A 1930s-set story centered on the University of Washington’s rowing team, from their Depression-era beginnings to winning gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
The set of expectations regarding what constitutes a successful sports movie isn’t entirely tangible, but it does seem like everyone knows what they are, especially in the event of the said sports movie being based on an actual event. The story being told must be of some interest, and this one, an account of the American rowing team that competed against Italy and Germany in the Olympics, certainly qualifies. The figures in the story must be brought to life in some way that complements the uplifting nature of the story, and the hard-won members of the University of Washington team, as well as their steadfast and determined coach, definitely do that. Finally, the picture’s craftsmanship must be on par with its intentions, and under the sturdy direction of George Clooney, who has made perhaps his best film in nearly two decades here, those expectations are met.
Again, such attributes are difficult to qualify, but perhaps it comes down to the simple fact that we know a good and solid movie when we see one. In spite or because of its old-fashioned nature, “The Boys in the Boat” is both good, in that something genuinely uplifting and positive is reflected in its storytelling, and solid, in that Clooney summons all the forces of his filmmaking crew (among them, cinematographer Martin Ruhe, production designer Kalina Ivanov, editor Tanya Swerling, and composer Alexandre Desplat) to make something both entertaining and broadly informative. There’s nothing particularly new in how screenwriter Mark L. Smith has adapted this story and a book by Daniel James Brown that also told it. There is, though, something inherently compelling about the story from its very foundation that’s hard to deny.
For one thing, these were the Olympics held in 1936, in Berlin, and in front of Adolf Hitler, whose dictatorship at this point was in full swing. His overarching plan to exterminate Germany’s Jewish population, as well as to subjugate his political enemies under the threat of death, is not mentioned and only vaguely hinted at in this movie, which does feature a scene of the American team’s arrival in a Berlin decorated with a specific symbol. Then again, as the historical record would have it, Hitler worked exceptionally hard to hide the encroaching Holocaust from the world for this short period when the country was on the public stage. Hitler appears briefly in this movie, played by a silent Daniel Philpott, but neither he nor his Reich is the point of Clooney’s movie beyond what it might mean to defeat him in the sporting arena.
Instead, the movie is almost exclusively about the steps taken to train the Washington team, as seen through two men’s eyes. The first is Coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton), who is under extraordinary pressure to bring an American rowing team to the Olympics – specifically, one that meets with the approval of school management. The second man, Joe Rantz (Callum Turner), is down on his luck on the job front and needs some quick cash to pay off debts. Joe comes from a humble background, and his parents were absent from his life when he became a teenager. If he knows one thing, it’s how to summon the fortitude to get the hard work done.
He doesn’t appreciate or welcome distractions, so an entire romantic subplot involving Joe and Joyce Simdars (Hadley Robinson) feels like an extraneous attempt to add drama to a movie that already has enough of it. The movie’s appeal is in the rowing scenes shared by Joe’s teammates (played variously by Sam Strike, Thomas Elms, Jack Mulhern, Luke Slattery, and a few more, although they’re all pushed into the background). They’re as exciting and well-edited as if they were scenes involving a contact sport, and the final match, with literal American pride on the line, is genuinely rousing.
The performances from Edgerton and especially Turner are just as solid as everything around them, adding credence to even the contrivances on display, such as one stretch in which some familial drama causes Joe to lose confidence and Al to suspend him from the team. The issue is quickly addressed and perhaps too tidily resolved, but the scene of reconciliation between the two men is genuinely touching. That’s courtesy of actors who know precisely how to play this material. “The Boys in the Boat” resides comfortably in the arena of uplifting sports movies and sturdy character study.
Available on Blu-ray™ June 25th
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