The book was better. I’ve never read the book but I know it was better than the movie version of The Boys in the Boat.
If you enjoy cliché-ridden sports stories about individuals and/or teams who overcome steep odds to claim victory in their field of competition, then this movie is for you. I myself was bored with this film.
Okay, a few positives: The depiction of Seattle’s Depression-era shantytown was impressive, no matter whether it was real or partly computer generated. The moving grandstand, on a rail car I guess, which allowed spectators to move parallel to the crew teams as they moved down the Hudson River is cool. And the overhead shots of the sculls racing along provide a pleasing images.
A big negative: Director George Clooney chose Joel Edgerton to play Al Ulbrickson, coach of the University of Washington crew team. The team goes on—spoiler alert—to represent the U.S. at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Sorry, but to me it just seems wrong to cast as the leader of Team USA… an Aussie! No disrespect to Edgerton, a fine actor, but were there no Americans available for this role?
That’s not as bad as Ava DuVarney’s casting of Brits to play MLK, LBJ and George Wallace in her movie Selma. That still stinks!
Another positive: The Boys in the Boat is rated PG-13. So you can take the whole family. There’s romance that’s sweet and innocent and only one veiled reference to sex (but it’s married couple sex, so that’s okay.) Little kids might be amused if they’ve never seen any of these kinds of stories. And even 90-somethings might dig a movie set within their lifespans. But overall, this is ground that has be trod by makers of sports movies time and time again. Although… there are not many films about rowing. (Unless you count the rowing in the recent Lessons in Chemistry.)
If Nana loved Emma Stone in La La Land and thinks that the movie Poor Things looks interesting, steer her instead to The Boys in the Boat. She may nod off during TBITB, but she is also less likely to walk out ashen-faced.
The Boys in the Boat is the kind of movie that Nick Saban might take his Bama team to see the night before they face Michigan. It emphasizes teamwork, stick-to-it-ivness, conditioning and all that. Or, maybe not, since it’s a lily-white cast of characters. As mentioned before, and merits mentioning again, the film is rated PG-13.
David Craig Movies 