The Boys in the Boat: Movie Review

Cast: Callum Turner, Joel Edgerton, Sam Strike, Peter Guinness

Director: George Clooney

Based on Daniel James Brown's adaptation of the book of the same name, George Clooney's somewhat formulaic undertaking is obviously trying to stir up feelings of patriotism, coping with an economic depression and triumph under adversity.

On that front, this retelling of how nine men came together in Washington in 1936 under the watchful eye of the hopeful coach (played in the film by Joel Edgerton) has admirable intentions.

But its execution feels underwhelming and very workmanlike with little room for creativity in the retelling of both the story and the scenes of men pumping wood together as a team on the water. As Joel Edgerton's Coach Al Ulbrickson says halfway through: "We need an edge" - and so does Clooney behind the camera.

A young David Wenham lookalike Callum Turner is Joe Rantz, an abandoned child who studies engineering while living on the bare bones of his backside inside a car. Desperate for work to carry on his learning, Rantz tries out for the Washington junior rowing team and ends up being selected for the crew.

However, along with eight similar hopefuls, Rantz faces the seemingly overwhelming odds as they plot their way to the Olympics.

The Boys in the Boat is a very sanitisied, prestige picture attempt that has all the elements needed for a rousing underdog film. Personal adversity, a romance and drone shots on the river - they're all here for the taking and Clooney deploys them throughout.

But what emerges from these cinematic waters is more a shallow affair than perhaps would be anticipated. 

Using broad brush strokes for characterisation throughout, Clooney somehow manages to sideline most of the occupants in the boat to only the most basic of story beats. Added into that is the fact the less sanitary elements of the book which condemn Hitler's treatment of the Jews are turned into a more stereotyped Hitler and the German "bad guys" in the final third of the film.

This is basic storytelling presented in its finest form though - everything looks stunning, period recreations dazzle with detail and the romance will capture some hearts. Yet in truth, look below the surface and there's little else going on in this rowing film that should be about adversity, camaraderie and uplift.

Instead, despite a two hour run time that's beautifully presented, The Boys in the Boat skims only the surface of it all, deploying the most formulaic of sports beats (montages, poverty porn) to leave it not entirely lost at sea, but sadly lagging severely behind.