The Jamaican bobsled team makes a great punch line for a real-life joke, but it’s not all that ridiculous if you stop to think about it. They play professional ice hockey in Phoenix (in May, no less) and beach volleyball in Alaska. So what’s so crazy about a quartet of beach-seasoned Jamaicans sprinting down the ice and pushing a sled for all they’re worth?
The silly idea achieved reality in 1988, when a talented group of runners from the island nation was recruited to make their country’s first entry in the Winter Olympics. Jamaicans were more accustomed to cheering on a 200-meter track finalist in the summer Olympics — nobody knew how the rookies would handle the snows of Calgary in the dead of winter.
The story loosely provides the inspiration for “Cool Runnings,” a winning 1993 film directed by John Turtletaub. It’s a family sports-inspiration movie that has the usual training montages, screaming coaches and deep moments of self-doubt, but the mere phrase “Jamaican bobsled team” keeps everything light and gliding sweetly down the track. You can safely sit down for some Olympic inspiration with your kids, without the murderous gloom of “Munich” or that drives-me-batty synthesizer music from “Chariots of Fire.”
The late, great John Candy plays a washed up former American bobsledder who presides over a dive bar on Jamaica’s breezy shores. An eclectic foursome of local runners seeks him out for sledding advice, drawing on the Jamaican tradition of street pushcar races. Yes, it’s an unlikely attempt, and not closely lined up with the true story of how the Jamaicans got to Calgary. But they did make it, that much is true, and performed more professionally and successfully in the end than any of the northern teams ever expected.
The bobsledding runs themselves are handled with Turtletaub’s eye for action — he was also the director of “National Treasure” and knows how to edit a chase or a race for maximum effect. The Jamaicans’ last few rocket runs down the course are a good way to get the whole family bouncing on the couch.
“Cool Runnings”
Rated: PG, with little objectionable content other than a little drinking and some mild swearing.
Best suited for: 8- to-10-year-olds and any sports-oriented parents.
