When it comes to watching movies, I have to be in a certain mood for certain genres. Say, if I'm in the mood for a documentary, a rom-com won't satisfy, no matter how satisfying it might be if I were in a rom-com mood. Many times my husband and I have let a Netflix DVD sit on the shelf for weeks because we're just not in the mood for drama or perhaps historical fiction despite wanting to see the movie at some point.

One genre I'm always up for, though, always in the mood to watch is the feel-good, root-for-the-underdog genre. Which I'm pretty sure isn't, technically, a movie genre. But it's one of my favorite sorts of films, especially if it's based on a real-life wanna-be winner and has a fair sprinkling of humor and sweetness flavoring the inspirational tale being told.

EDDIE THE EAGLE, starring Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman, with delightful secondary stars — including Christopher Walken in a brief but key part — is exactly that sort of film.

Egerton plays Michael "Eddie" Edwards, a quirky, committed, and seemingly fearless young British lad who was determined...