User Reviews

A sports drama about the US rowing team's victory at the 1936 Olympics without ever explaining why they won.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

When it comes to underdog stories, there are offerings that are decidedly inspirational and those that are riddled with clichés. As for the latest in this genre from director George Clooney, the film falls squarely in the latter category. Although capably made for the most part, this fact-based account about the 1936 US Olympic gold medal-winning eight-man rowing team is positively rife with shopworn predictable sports story tropes, nearly all of which can be handily spotted from a mile away. While the period piece production values and cinematography are generally solid, much of the rest of the picture is about as pedestrian as one can get, from the screenplay to the narrative to the performances. The release also features some unusual camera work and film editing, most of which adds nothing and comes across as more puzzling than anything else. What’s more, there are few meaningful tie-ins to the site of the 1936 Games – Berlin in Adolph **** Germany – an aspect of the story that serves as little more than a backdrop but carries few, if any, other connotations. To be honest, I expect more from a filmmaker like Clooney in terms of cinematic imagination and inventiveness, but those attributes are almost entirely lacking here. In short, “The Boys in the Boat” is fundamentally bland and unengaging – by no means a bad film but certainly a second-rate production that fails to get viewers particularly excited, enthused or inspired.

The Boys In The Boat This sports biopic chronicles the 1936 Summer Olympics journey of the University of Washington's rowing team. Most movies in this genre will rather go for theatrics and hone in on effective drama, but this biopic remains rather simple and traditional. The storytelling is clear and rows smoothly to its conclusion. The movie falls short in character development. With numerous characters appearing, many are sidelined, and even the main ones lack proper exploration. This is honestly what sports biopics are about, the drive and push that offers the eventual success, and this movie doesn't pack a lot of that. The Boys In The Boat authentically captures the era it portrays. The setting, wardrobe, cinematography, and overall atmosphere of the movie vividly bring this period to life. The cast of Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner, Hadley Robinson, and Thomas Elms bring their best to what they're offered. The Boys In The Boat had the potential to be great, but it still makes for an enjoyable and straightforward watch. 6.5-7/10

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.

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

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.

While objectively seen this movie is pretty decent, it just doesn't have a story that's worthy making a movie of. I lost a little bit of my interest throughout the movie.

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.

(Mauro Lanari) Clooney reiterates his own cowardice by talking about class struggle and racism not nowadays but with a biopic set in the Nàzi period as already "The Monuments Men" (2014). Classicism is the film's vice and virtue, predictable and flowing. Skimpy sufficiency.

Set design and cinematography was excellent, as were the performances all around. It lagged a bit here and there but otherwise well done.

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

The first 30 minutes of the movie has bad pacing, cringy dialogue, and pointless romance. That being said, the rowing scenes are actually pretty fun to watch. They have tension, highs and lows, and a satisfying conclusion. This movie has some filler, but it's still an above-average film.

Unfortunately seeing this after Poor Things was not the wisest move. It was okay but offered nothing that hadn’t been done before. That & some dodgy acting in places meant it was only okay. Also questioned the choice of some of the rowers in the boats as they didn’t appear to be the perfect physical specimens we see in the Oxford v Cambridge race each year. Finally still not clear which younger character the granddad was.

I really enjoyed this movie. What a great story with some excellent acting. I definitely recommend going to check this film out.

Nice, old fashion film that feels tailor-made for dads to watch on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

This film is very uneven. It tries really hard to tug at the heartstrings with sappy music in the opening scene. It's primarily a snooze-fest for the first half hour, focusing on a relationship with a girl, instead of concentrating on the issues the boy has with his father. In this film, it's a throw-away, instead of the catalyst for this man's journey and pay-off. The story itself about this Olympic underdog is one that will make you cheer, and in the hands of a better director and screenwriter, perhaps that would have translated into another "Chariots of Fire" type film. Instead, this is more of a made-for-TV film, one you might expect on the Hallmark Channel. Does it have moments, yes absolutely, is it a great movie.... not so much.

An elegant and wholesome period piece. There was scattered audience applause at end in the theater. Edgerton is excellent. It’s better than the critics scores listed here.

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.

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.

I think Clooney did a great job turning this into an entertaining 2-hour movie. Agreed, the book had more human interest, but that would have taken a 6-hour miniseries to capture. Reminiscent of Chariots of Fire, and since you already know the outcome, viewers still are treated to a suspenseful set of races. I think this will appeal to athletes a lot more than critics who never participated in team sports.

Doesn’t do justice to the book. None of the locations look remotely like Seattle and most of the crew’s stories aren’t explored. Also, they only showed 3 boat Races in the whole movie as if that was all it took to beat the Germans in the Olympics. The only relationship that is explored in depth is that of Joe Rance and his girlfriend. The relationship has no chemistry and it eats up a lot of the movie. Joel Egerton is probably the best part of this movie, and the race scenes are well filmed.

It’s a solid historical drama. From what I understand, a lot had to be cut out from the biography, but what remains is an inspirational story that is brought to life by a strong cast. I would’ve preferred more length to flesh out the backstories, but I enjoyed everything that was there.