Film Review: ‘The Boys in the Boat’ is an Old-Fashioned and Stately Affair from George Clooney

More often than not, and more often than most, I tend to enjoy George Clooney-helmed pictures. Good Night, and Good Luck is a stone cold classic, to be sure, and I like The Ides of March and The Tender Bar much more than most, considering them the rest of his top tier. That being said, even his lesser efforts are still well-made and usually fairly effective. The fact that he aims to be a competent and hard to pin down filmmaker, as opposed to an auteur, trips people up. With The Boys in the Boat, he’s trafficking in that same territory. There are complaints to be had, but damn if he doesn’t get the intended reaction out of you by the end of the film.

The Boys in the Boat is an inspirational sports flick, taking a true story from the era of the Great Depression and looking to rouse you. In many ways, it’s Clooney’s Disney movie. This isn’t too far removed from something like Miracle, even if it doesn’t quite hit you in the feels like that one does. Here, we have a solid work, up and down the line, that just never really aspires to be much more than that.

This is the unlikely story of the the University of Washington’s junior varsity rowing team, which would eventually compete in the 1936 Olympics. Before they got to Berlin, these student athletes were just Depression-era kids, hungry for opportunity, and often literally hungry. For Joe Rantz (Callum Turner), he’s as interested in the pay that comes along with the job attached to making the team. He’s just one of the many underdogs who will eventually make up the team coached by Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton).

Initially, the boys have trouble working together, but under Ulbrickson’s tuteldge, they begin coming together. At the same time, Rantz begins dating Joyce Simdars (Hadley Robinson), while also bonding with an Assistant Coach (Peter Guinness). When the JV outperforms the Varsity at an important Regatta, the coach selects them to be the ones headed to Berlin for the Olympic games. There, Rantz and his teammates will be going up against, among other teams, Adolf Hitler’s German squad.

Callum Turner leads the way here, alongside Joel Edgerton, and both are very solid. They’re playing men’s men, ones who don’t talk about their feelings, so there’s only small cracks in the armor. However, when those moments come, they’re very effective. Peter Guinness has a few nice scenes bonding with Turner, though that subplot doesn’t go anywhere of note. Moreover, Hadley Robinson gets saddled with a thankless girlfriend role, feeling more than a bit tacked on. Supporting players include Wil Coban, Chris Diamantopoulos, Thomas Elms, Courtney Henggeler, Bruce Herbelin-Earle, Jack Mulhern, Joel Phillimore, Luke Slattery, Sam Strike, Tom Varey, James Wolk, and more.

George Clooney directs a script by Mark L. Smith, both of whom are playing this as classically as possible. Alexandre Desplat‘s score and Martin Ruhe‘s cinematography contribute to this as well. The Boys in the Boat is meant to be a throwback, which everyone sets out to achieve with solid success. If there’s a flaw, it’s that there’s not a lot of passion here. Clooney feels more like a gun for hire than an inspired filmmaker. The movie comes alive when it’s on the water, as well as during unique moments, like when the team has to raise the money to actually get to Berlin. Otherwise, it’s the type of film you just know that you’ve seen before.

The Boys in the Boat is, ultimately, just an old-fashioned and stately affair from George Clooney. He’s following the beats of the inspirational true-life sports story in a satisfying yet unspectacular manner, resulting in a film that’s easy to admire, but hard to be passionate about. I liked it, much like I do usually with Clooney’s efforts behind the camera, but the movie fades from memory pretty fast. Make of that what you will.

SCORE: ★★★