Summary

The Boys in the Boat is a visually appealing film with a moving score, but it lacks personality and emotion, making it hard to get invested in the characters’ stories. The rowing scenes in the film are engaging and intense, but the overall lack of depth and feeling in the characters leaves the movie feeling detached and dispassionate. The lackluster directing and storytelling strip away the passion, drama, heart, and tension that should be present in a sports biopic, resulting in a muted and unengaging film experience.

Directed by George Clooney from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith, The Boys in the Boat takes an intriguing story and somehow makes it uninteresting. The film is beautiful to look at, and Alexandre Desplat’s score is moving, but Clooney’s film doesn’t leave an impression. It’s too slow-going, and the characters lack personality, which made it hard for me to get invested in their stories. There are plenty of sports dramas, but they’re usually engaging, heartfelt, and occasionally even fun. But there’s a self-seriousness and emotional detachment that leaves the biopic struggling to make it to the finish line.

The Boys in the Boat The Boys in the Boat is a 2023 sports drama by director George Clooney. The film centers on the 1930s University of Washington rowing team, who train feverishly to win the gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The Boys in the Boat is based on the book of the same name by Daniel James Brown. Release Date December 25, 2023 Cast Joel Edgerton , Callum Turner , Peter Guinness , Sam Strike , Jack Mulhern Rating PG-13 Runtime 124 Minutes Genres Biography , Drama , Sports Writers Mark L. Smith Distributor(s) Amazon MGM Studios

The Boys In The Boat Is Based On A True Story

Set in 1936, The Boys in the Boat — which draws from the 2013 book by Daniel James Brown — follows Joe Rantz (Callum Turner), a student at the University of Washington struggling to pay tuition. He was abandoned by his father at 14, and has been fending for himself ever since. At risk of being kicked out of university due to a lack of funds, Joe gets a job helping the crew team’s boat maker and takes up rowing under the instruction of Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton), the jaded head coach who is under pressure to deliver an outstanding season against a rival university. Al sees the potential in Joe and the team, however, and takes a risk by sending them — and not the varsity team — to the 1936 Summer Olympic Games.

The Boys In The Boat Is Devoid Of Emotion

A film about rowing is rare, but The Boys in the Boat’s biggest strength is when the team is out on the water. It makes their races, and especially their shot at the Olympics, all the more exciting. Cinematographer Martin Ruhe accentuates the rowers’ oars as they briskly lap against the water, and the seamless editing between the racing boats and onlookers elevates the intensity. Even knowing the outcome, I was still riveted and stressed about whether the crew team would win.

Where the film fails is in its lack of emotion. Between Joe’s financial struggles, his history with an absent father, and Al feeling the pressure to deliver a great team, there’s plenty of drama to mine from such moments. And yet The Boys in the Boat tempers every bit of underlying tension and character emotion to the point of being a dispassionate display. There’s very little to be gleaned from Joe and Al; the film clearly states the reasons behind all their actions, but there’s a hollowness to their characters where there should have been depth.

There’s a self-seriousness and emotional detachment that leaves the biopic struggling to make it to the finish line.

Edgerton and Callum portray Joe and Al to the best of their ability, but the writing simply isn’t there for them. There’s only so much emotion someone can bring to a role that is so passive and underwhelming. If we can’t care about, or be invested in, any of the characters because of their lack of depth and feeling, it makes the film a chore to watch. The outcome of the 1936 Olympic Games is something I could have read about, but a film about the crew team that won shouldn’t be so blasé about it.

On the note of being passive, it’s a word that describes the entire movie, if I’m being quite honest. The Boys in the Boat is a film that should work on paper, but the directing and the story leave a lot to be desired. A sports biopic shouldn’t only be nice to look at. The rowing scenes are great, but they would’ve been even stronger had the narrative and character arcs worked in concert. Where’s the passion and the drama, the heart and the tension? Clooney’s lackluster film strips all that away, leaving behind a muted sports film that barely engages with its characters in any meaningful way.

The Boys in the Boat releases in theaters on December 25. The film is 124 minutes long and rated PG-13 for language and smoking.