The Boys in the Boat movie review

MOVIE TITLE: The Boys in the Boat

This underdog sports film is playing in select theaters, as well as on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Vudu.

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 2 hours 4 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: A-

IN A NUTSHELL:

My husband read the 2013 bestselling book by Daniel James Brown long ago and loved it. For years, he kept asking, “When are they going to turn this story into a movie?!” The time has finally come! George Clooney directed and produced this inspirational film based on the incredible true story.

Clooney was quoted as saying, “It was really important to us that the rowing community actually had a film that captured the thrill of what that is, and the speed.”

Amazon purchased MGM in 2022, later creating the name Amazon MGM Studios. I’m expecting great things from this merger!

THINGS I LIKED:

The cast is solid and features Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner, Jack Mulhern, Courtney Henggeler, Chris Diamantopoulos, Hadley Robinson, Sam Strike, and Luke Slattery.
The young men who played the athletes had a goal of getting to 46 strokes a minute while they filmed the movie. They achieved their goal after training every day for five months! Unbelievably, none of them had any rowing experience before this film.
I loved the old-fashioned nature of this period piece when people worked hard and had grit.
The races are pretty doggone exciting!
The moment when the rowers met Jesse Owens was touching. When they commented that he was going to show those Nazis how talented he was, he said, “No, I’m going to show them back home.”
Impressive cinematography by Martin Ruhe.
When I saw Hitler in the stands, I just wanted to smack him. Ha ha
The movie does a great job of illustrating that it takes mental strength too, not just physical strength to excel at athletic tasks.
Nice costume design by Jenny Eagan.
Keep watching during the rolling credits at the end to see some old photos of the famous rowers in real life.
For what it’s worth, one of my grandson’s names is Crew! True story!

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

The movie slows its pace in sections. Pun intended.
The musical score by Alexandre Desplat was lovely but could have used some sweeping moments that built more tension. Because we already know the end of the story, the suspense was missing.
It’s extremely paint-by-the-numbers and predictable.
Film critics have rated this film harshly at a low 56% on Rotten Tomatoes, while fans have awarded it a high 96%.
All in all, the movie is nice…but not as great as I wanted it to be. As is the case for films like this, the book is always better than the movie.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Young kids might be bored but teens will enjoy it.
Some bullying
Some “light” profanity

THEMES:

Teamwork
Hard work
Fighting hard vs. quitting
Old money vs. no money at all
The working class
The Great Depression
Overcoming adversity
Effective coaching
Hope

FUNNY LINES:

“I do love your smile. You should do it more often.” – Hazel Ulbrickson (Courtney Henggeler)

INTERESTING LINES:

“Rowing is more poetry than stroke.” – George Pocock (Peter Guinness)
“Sometimes, young horses need a louder jockey.” – George Pocock (Peter Guinness)
“The boat…it’s all I got. The boys…it’s all I got.” – Joe Rantz (Callum Turner)