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- 2023
- PG-13
- Amazon MGM Studios
- 2 h 3 m
- 2023
- PG-13
- Amazon MGM Studios
- 2 h 3 m
Summary The Boys in the Boat is about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. This inspirational true story follows a group of underdogs at the height of the Great Depression as they are thrust into the spotlight and take on elite rivals from around the world. Based on the #1 New Yor...
Directed By: George Clooney
Written By: Daniel James Brown, Mark L. Smith
- 2023
- PG-13
- Amazon MGM Studios
- 2 h 3 m
- 2023
- PG-13
- Amazon MGM Studios
- 2 h 3 m
The Boys in the Boat
54
6.6
Where to Watch
Summary The Boys in the Boat is about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. This inspirational true story follows a group of underdogs at the height of the Great Depression as they are thrust into the spotlight and take on elite rivals from around the world. Based on the #1 New Yor...
Directed By: George Clooney
Written By: Daniel James Brown, Mark L. Smith
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 35 Critic Reviews
54
37% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
51% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
11% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 35 Critic Reviews
54
37% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
51% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
11% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Director George Clooney understands the strength of this classic underdog story, and he knows how to tell it, with gorgeous visuals and heartfelt performances.
The film is an unshowy but slick underdog sports picture, fluidly told and elegantly mounted. It’s about rowing, for chrissakes; it doesn’t have a post-modern or irreverent bone in its body, and for that, we can be at least a little grateful.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 36 User Ratings
6.6
61% Positive
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
31% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
8% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 36 User Ratings
6.6
61% Positive
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
31% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
8% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
This movie is brilliant and beautiful in every way. The depths of historical accuracy that were achieved are remarkable; down to how the characters talked and thought. I’m not sure I’ve seen a movie that depicted a time period so precisely. It would have been tempting to project something from our time onto the characters but this movie resists. Great acting and moving cinematography. The Pacific Northwest provided a beautiful backdrop. The Boys in the Boat never overplays its hand or spreads itself too thin. It’s perfect.
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My only wish is that at the end, it would have mentioned that when they returned to WA , there was a newspaper strike and they received no recogniton. Also, that they men stayed friends and got together every ten years or so and lived long lives. Joe died at 93. It could have scrolled at the end before the credits.
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There is not much “edge” here, but Clooney and team prove that sometimes, slow and steady — or should we say, pretty and pleasing — can still win some races.
Any attempt at Chariots of Fire-style emotional intensity is tanked, however, by Callum Turner’s unhelpfully laconic, low-key performance.
Steeped in old-fashioned virtues and a feel-good underdog story, The Boys in the Boat isn’t bad, but it doesn’t ever navigate its way out of the shallow end of the sports-movie pool either.
Clooney and his screenwriter, Mark L Smith, tell their story with rousing traditionalism, reinforced by Alexandre Desplat’s idealist score, but little more.
For being based on such a memorable story, it's incredible how forgettable The Boys in the Boat is. Clooney's direction is so empty and the writing so trite that it leaves the committed cast stranded out on the water with nowhere meaningful to go.
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 ****, 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 **** how talented he was, he said, “No, I’m going to show them back home.”
Impressive cinematography by Martin Ruhe.
When I saw **** 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
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Clooney se sai tão burocrático na direção, que absolutamente passa despercebido, num filme sobre uma equipe de remo que tenta se agarrar a tantos clichês (a história de vida, a fase de superação), sem querer, no entanto, parecer apegado. O resultado é frio, mas ao mesmo tempo há ali alguma classe e alguma simpatia. A cena onde aparece um atleta negro competindo na Alemanha **** e deixando claro que, na verdade, estava pondo à prova os próprios compatriotas, é bem satisfatória.
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Film adaptation of the book "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown, the ninth film directed by Clooney is based on the American rowing team which, despite adversity and little chance of success, won the gold medal at the Olympics in Berlin 1936. A biopic/sports film with a classic style but not very incisive. A superficial, predictable, colorless work of ordinary administration; yet pleasant, with a discreet period reconstruction and an exciting ending. Rating: 6.50
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The Boys in the Boat is your typical film about “losers” who, against all odds, achieve success. George Clooney can't make anything different than this kind of movie anymore. It's decently acted, but mediocre subtext and a lack of nuance deprive it of being anything valuable. Excessively long and repetitive. Its “inspirational” speech is trite and outdated. Boring.
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ANOTHER SNOOZE FEST. Boring. Dull. Lost tonality.
It's as if actor George Clooney still has not learnt that his 9 film directorial endeavours have been epic flops, lacking tonality and boring the audiences senseless. About half the viewers had left the auditorium by the end of the film. The rest were either asleep or in a low mood.
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Production Company
Tempesta Films,
Lantern Entertainment,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),
Smokehouse Pictures,
Spyglass Entertainment,
Spyglass Media Group
Release Date Dec 25, 2023
Duration 2 h 3 m
Rating PG-13
Awards
Heartland Film
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
International Film Music Critics Award (IFMCA)
• 1 Nomination
