Cool Runnings (1993) – Movie Review

Movie Review • “Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, it’s bobsled time! Cool runnings!” A movie about the first Jamaican bobsled team of 1988 was the highest grossing live action film released under the Walt Disney Picture banner. It’s probably been about 20 years since I’ve watched Cool Runnings and watching it today on it’s 28th anniversary took me back to those VHS days where there was no start over or menu button.  

The film originally wanted Denzel Washington as Derice Bannock & Eddie Murphy as Sanka Coffie but they both turned down the roles. I honestly can’t see anyone else playing Sanka besides Doug E. Doug, he was the best character in the movie and the most memorable. Malik Yoba did pretty good for this to be his cinema debut film. I really thought he hated Junior (Rawle D. Lewis) when I was younger. Of all the Leon movies I’ve seen, I feel like this is the only one where he doesn’t play a smooth character. He’s more lighthearted and playful in this role & it was nice to see. 

Although the movie was based on a true story, a lot of the scenes filmed were fictional situations to add more comedy, drama and character development. I loved how each character had a different personality but they all gelled so well. Unfortunately this was one of the last movies John Candy (Irv) filmed before he died of a heart attack in 1994. 

I didn’t know what bobsledding was until this movie came out. You know black people & ice cold weather don’t go together so I was fascinated when watching this movie. The movie really showed us that we are capable of doing anything regardless of what’s thrown in our way. An all black team coming in & shaking the table of a majority white sport is what got black people watching bobsled games. Not sure if we still do now, but when that Jamaican team was all over our tv’s all we knew was “im rooting for everybody black.”