Movies - Cool Runnings

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	Movies - Cool Runnings

Cool Runnings is a 1993 comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub. It is based on the exploits of the Jamaican Bobsled Team at Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the 1988 Winter Olympics. It stars Leon, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba, Rawle D. Lewis and John Candy.

Plot

Irving Blitzer (Candy), an American bobsled double gold medallist at the 1968 Winter Olympics who finished first in two events again in 1972 but was disqualified for cheating and retired in disgrace to Jamaica where he now leads a destitute borderline legal life, is co-opted into organising a Jamaican bobsled team by top 100m runner Derice Bannock (Leon) and two fellow sprinters (Yoba and Lewis), who had lost their chance to go to the 1988 Summer Olympics, and a fourth member, ne'er-do-well pushcart driving champion Sanka (Doug).

The first half of the movie centres on Jamaica and assembling and training the team. Occasionally on their trials, the bobsled overturns and crashes. Derice then says, "Sanka, you dead?" and Sanka replies, "Yeah, man."

The second half of the movie is the drama of the Olympics, and the fish-out-of-water scenario of the laid-back tropical Reggae Jamaicans in both the white-dominated sport and the wintery Calgary Country Music culture. In the end, just as they are about to complete their final run and earn a top ten finish, a runner comes loose from their old sled and they overturn just meters away from the finishing line. This time Sanka asked "Derice, you dead?" Derice replies "No, man. We have to finish the race." The team then carries their sled past the finish line, and the crowd cheers and claps for them.

The movie was made entirely in the actual locations. Irving Blitzer is a fictional character; the real team had several trainers, none connected to any cheating scandal. The bobsledders portrayed in the film are also fictional, although the people who conceived the idea of a Jamaican bobsled team were inspired by pushcart races and tried to recruit track sprinters. The bobsled team also couldn't have been formed by sprinters after failing to qualify for the Summer Games, as the 1988 Winter Olympics actually preceded the Summer Olympic trials. A fictional sports governing body, the "International Alliance of Winter Sports" appears in the film (in reality, every winter sport has its own separate governing body).

Box office

US Gross Domestic Takings: US$ 68,856,263 :+ Other International Takings: $86,000,000 = Gross Worldwide Takings: $154,856,263

Cast and Characters

John Candy
- Irving 'Irv' Blitzer
Leon Robinson
- Derice Bannock
Doug E. Doug
- Sanka Coffie
Malik Yoba
- Yul Brenner
Rawle D. Lewis - Junior Bevil

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