Customer Reviews

Eddie [VHS]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very enjoyable comedy, starring the irrepressible Whoopi Goldberg in the role of Edwina "Eddie" Franklin, the widow of a New York City police officer. Following in her late husband's footsteps, she coaches basketball for inner city kids. She is also the number one fan for the New York Knicks, a team that, despite the talent on it, can't seem to win a game. Eddie loves the team, no matter what, and can be seen high up in the rafters of every Knicks game, rabidly and raucously cheering them on.

When "Eddie" wins the honorary coach for the day contest at one of the Knicks' games, she manages to get thrown off the court by the head coach (Dennis Farina), when she protests a ref's call. This causes the fans to go wild, chanting her name as she leaves the court. When the head coach for the Knicks gets fired by the team's owner, Wild Bill Burgess (Frank Langella in a ten gallon hat), he hires "Eddie" as an interim head coach, as it seems that fans of the Knicks love "Eddie" and respond to her very positively. After all, she was one of them. Burgess, however, has no expectations of "Eddie's" ability to coach the team. "Eddie", however, aims to do everything she can to bring the Knicks out of their slump. For her, this is a dream come true.

This is a feel good sort of movie. Whoopi is very funny , as she goes about setting right what has gone wrong with the team. Frank Langella is terrific as the deal making team owner whose folksy manner belies the fact that he has his eye on the bottom line. Dennis Farina is credible as the head coach with a mouth as big as his monumental ego. While the film is fairly predictable, it is quite enjoyable. The viewer is also treated to a few fun cameos by Donald Trump, sports announcer Marv Alpert, and former NBA star, Walt Frazier. If you are not a big fan of basketball, however, deduct one star from my rating.

It seems that after her screen successes in THE COLOR PURPLE and GHOST, Whoopi Goldberg suddenly could do no right in Hollywood. Leastwise when she had a starring role. Well, give her SISTER ACT, but that was followed by a string of critical and commercial duds--silly comedies mostly, but also schmaltzy dramas. She did acquit herself well in cameo roles for prestige directors like Altman, but overall, she struggled. Like Bette Midler before her, she was finding that her larger-than-life persona somehow had trouble translating to the big screen.

Which may say more about the state of the movies than about either Midler or Goldberg.

So when I finally got around to viewing EDDIE recently, I did not have high hopes for the film. Recuperating from surgery and suffering through a too long, too hot summer, I just wanted some lighter fare. In that sense, EDDIE proved to be a pleasant surprise. Sure it was kind of predictable, and as many have observed, it pretty much derails by the midway point. But Whoopi Goldberg as the Knicks fan-turned-coach gives a spirited, touching performance. Her initial awkward moments with team members ring true enough. The ways that attempts to reach out to team members range from the plausible (providing ad hoc marriage counseling to one) to the highly unlikely (learning enough Russian to begin to bridge the cultural and linguistic gap of a Russian born player).

The contrived, feel-good ending (sort of a MS. DEEDS STAYS IN NEW YORK) brings the film down several notches on the origniality scale. But Whoopi Goldberg gives it all she's got--as does the rest of the cast. They wind up giving the movie pretty much all the appeal that it's got.

Maybe that's part of the problem. Hollywood may figure that if it gives us enough star power, we won't notice the stultifying lack of originality. But Goldberg's post-GHOST career pretty much proves them wrong. Star wattage only gets you so far. EDDIE could have been a much better vehicle for Goldberg. She's game. Too bad the moviemakers were not.

Manhattan limousine driver Edwina "Eddie" Franklin lives and breathes basketball. Her world revolves around Madison Square Garden, home of her beloved, albeit in last place, New York Knicks. She knows all there is to know about the team. She knows the players. She knows the coaches. She knows every statistic in the book. But what she never could have imagined is that hitting a free throw during a half-time contest would completely change her life. Whoopi does it once again. Eddie is hilarious, a truly great movie.

Like comedy, basketball and drama? Like to laugh, see the soft side of a coach as well as seeing the bad guys lose? Buy this film and you'll get all of this and more. It's a great vehicle for the talents of Whoopie and a few cameos of some players[I believe]. Great entertainment for all.

not bad though. Good fun only as Whoopi seems to be able to pull off. And any age can watch it.

[Add a star if you love Whoopi Goldberg.]

OK, class. Once again. It's important to realize what our perceptions are going in to a movie like this before one starts judging it. My perception going in was that we have yet another sports fantasy from the Disney sports fantasy factory. These are the same people who didn't know to stop with The Bad News Bears. So, they gave us The Mighty Ducks, Little GIANTS, and Angels In The Outfield.

This time out of the box it's "the Bad News Bears play NBA Basketball". Subbing for the Bears are the New York Knicks. Believe me, it's definitely bad news to see Mark Jackson back in a Knick uniform. Anyway, these Knicks are hopelessly bad. They're in last place and they have no signs of getting better. However, every sports team, no matter how bad, has its loyal fans.

Meet Eddie Franklin (Whoopi Goldberg). Eddie is fanatical about the Knicks. She loves them. She loves them so much that she, a limo dispatcher, does play-by-play and commentary over the limo service's airwaves. Where Eddie's friend goes to Knick games to meet men, Eddie goes to see the game.

Well, the Knicks are so bad that they've been sold to a new owner, one Wild Bill Burgess (Frank Langella). Will Bill is one of those stereotypical Texan billionaires who does everything large. Langella plays him well, but I could have seen Dennis Weaver in this role. Anyway, Burgess takes a ride in from the airport in Eddie's limo, who is inexplicably driving that day. Eddie's been listening to the FAN (WFAN Sports Radio 66, NYC) and ESPN Sports Radio. Eddie hates the Knicks' coach, played by Dennis Farina; so much so that she calls up Burgess, who doing a radio call-in, without realizing that he's in the back seat behind the glass. Burgess spies Eddie at the game later and decides to fix the halftime "Honorary Coach" contest so that he can throw Eddie and Bailey (Farina) together.

Eddie sinks the requisite free-throw and we're off. Franklin and Bailey don't like each other. (Bailey doesn't like anybody.) When Eddie steps on the court to protest a call, the referee assesses the Knicks a technical foul and Bailey has Eddie thrown out of the Garden to howls of protest from the fans. Seeing this, owner Burgess conspires to get rid of Bailey and hire a new coach. Meanwhile, he can hire Eddie as a one-shot interim coach until the dirty deed is done.

Of course, the plot is convoluted and full of holes, but the movie could still be entertaining if there were any energy on the screen. For the most part, there is none. The only chemistry I enjoyed was that between Franklin and veteran player Nate Wilson (John Salley).

As a native New Yorker, I especially thought it irritating that the movie's producers split up the announcing team of Marv Albert and Walt Frazier. Although both men play themselves, Frazier plays a sports-talk host rather than his usual (and colorful) role as Knick radio analyst. Anyone who has heard Albert and Frazier work together knows what I mean.

As in all these Disney sports fantasies, the Knicks start playing better under Franklin's coaching, but there's further trouble ahead. Actually, there's so much plot in this movie, they could have loaned some to Twister.

In conclusion, I'd wait for this movie to come to cable unless you just like Whoopi Goldberg films.

[Originally written 3 June 1996]

Whoopi is one of my favorite actresses, so that might be why my review of this film is biased. Although rabid movie critics may disagree with me, I found the film to be rather enjoyable. It was fun watching Whoopi arise to the level of coach and turn around the fledgling Knicks. It's a light-hearted comedy with laughs and fun. Recommended.

I love this movie! Whoopi plays Eddie, a very enthousiastic fan of the New York Knicks, a great team that has 'fallen to sleep', she watches every game and knows all ins and outs of all players since puberty. When she's at work one day, she meets the new owner of the knicks and talks about offence, defence and all other things. He is a businessman, likes her spark and sees in her a new interesting anchor for the Knicks. Through circumstances, Eddie becomes the new headcoach of the Knicks and as a miracle, she makes changes for the good and the Knicks slowly start to come back.

A great movie, lots of humor and laughs! Totally recommendable :)

While Eddie is a typical Whoopi movie, with all of the sarcasm and attitude we have come to expect, it has become a favorite (as I watched it numerous times) for two reasons ...

1) I love the scene where Eddie asks one of the team members if the loss is her fault. After saying, "You know how it is, coaches lose, teams win," he goes on to tell her that as long as she sees the players as just basketball players, and not real people, then they won't listen to her anymore than she is listening to them.

Too often we do the same, not just to basketball players, but to others in our lives. We fail to see them as real people, and we tend to forget the importance of listening to their cares and problems.

2) During the climax of the movie, Eddie must make a crucial decision. She has to decide if she is willing to put her reputation and future on the line for what is important. In so doing, she has to be willing to recognize that she has been a fool ... and put aside her own ego.

Depending on whether you enjoy Whoopi, you may or may not appreciate this particular video, but go beyond the surface humor and hear the message of the movie. Each of us is important, and we deserve to be listened to. And each of us has the possibility of changing things, even if we aren't rich and powerful.

One of Whoopie Goldbergs funniest movie. She somehow becomes the coach of a basketball team. No one believes in her. not even her players. After a while they she that she knows what she's talking about. And of course they win the game