“Cool Runnings” may have been an enjoyable film with memorable scenes and quotable lines, but as a piece of historical documentary, it leaves a lot to be desired. Pretty much the only thing true in the entire film, according to Business Insider, is the structural basis for the story.
For example, the names of the four competitors were changed, as was their origin story — they weren’t sprinters who took up bobsledding on their own, but rather, were recruited from the Jamaican army. Similarly, the film leans heavily into the idea that the four Black men from the tropics were outcasts among their largely Nordic, largely white competitors in Calgary, when in fact they were welcomed with open arms. Similarly, the film portrays the men as having to climb into freezers to experience cold for the first time in their lives, while in reality at least one of them, Devon Harris, had done a stint in England during his time in the army, and said the cold “punched me in the face and my heart,” as he told Inside Edition.
One thing the film did get right is the team’s crash, and indeed, Disney even used actual footage from the Olympics and showed it in the film. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured in the incident.
