The Boys in the Boat
George Clooney brings an accomplished eye for period detail to his true-life story of a rowing team competing against the odds in Depression-era America.
Keeping afloat: Callum Turner
The 1936 Olympics will forever be remembered as the event at which Hitler saluted Jesse Owens. But every competitor, coach and manager will have his own remarkable story to tell leading up to that big day. And every team will have had to overcome a seemingly insurmountable chain of drawbacks, as each move to potential glory could be a misstep. The rowing team representing the University of Washington faced more obstacles than most, but no one participant more so than Joe Rantz, a penurious student who had been struggling to make his way since he was abandoned by his father at the age of thirteen…
One can see why the filmmaker George Clooney was drawn to such material, being an American living in Europe and wanting to fly the flag for what was an underdog team from his home country. Even so, it’s hard to imagine how he could have breathed fresh life into what is patently a formulaic narrative. The angle here is purpose versus privilege, as Washington tackles the hierarchy of club convention and protocol, particularly when finance becomes an issue. What the team needs to find is an edge, as does Clooney the storyteller, alighting on just one contestant whose own life has been one obstacle course.
Being the 1930s, America is in the grip of the Great Depression, with higher education proving more than just a luxury. To Clooney’s credit, he doesn’t sentimentalise Joe Rantz nor paint him as a magnetic hero-in-the-making, but has secured an earnest performance from the London-born Callum Turner, whose good looks and credible American accent should nudge him towards a satisfactory film career. In general, the acting is of a high calibre, with especially convincing turns from Joel Edgerton as the flinty Seattle coach Al Ulbrickson and Peter Guinness as the designer of the competing boat, the Husky Skipper. In fact, it’s hard to find fault with Clooney’s direction, who delivers a solid recreation of the events and period, reminding one of the sheer pleasure of watching a good film impeccably mounted.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner, Peter Guinness, Jack Mulhern, James Wolk, Hadley Robinson, Courtney Henggeler, Sam Strike, Thomas Elms, Luke Slattery, Bruce Herbelin-Earle, Wil Coban, Chris Diamantopoulos, Sam Douglas, Glenn Wrage, Ian McElhinney, Robert Morgan, Jyuddah Jaymes, Adrian Lukis, Lucy Appleton.
Dir George Clooney, Pro Grant Heslov and George Clooney, Screenplay Mark L. Smith, from the book by Daniel James Brown, Ph Martin Ruhe, Pro Des Kalina Ivanov, Ed Tanya M. Swerling, Music Alexandre Desplat, Costumes Jenny Eagan, Sound Arthur Graley, Dialect coach Brett Tyne.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Smokehouse Pictures/Tempesta Films/Anonymous Content-Warner Bros.
123 mins. USA. 2023. US Rel: 25 December 2023. UK Rel: 12 January 2024. Cert. 12A.
