I’ve seen a lot of sports movies in my day. Most of them have been based on true stories or biopics. George Clooney has even directed one himself before, Leatherheads. The Boys In the Boat is his second sports film he has directed, but he didn’t start in this one. It’s another inspirational sports film that follows a lot of the tropes of sports films in the past.

Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) is a young man who attends the University of Washington. That is when he’s not scraping by doing odd jobs or trying to get work at the docs in Seattle during the depression. In 1936, there weren’t a lot of options for him. When a friend of his, Roger (Sam Strike) comes to him with an offer to try out for the school’s rowing team, he doesn’t pass it up. It may be an opportunity to make some money. It turns out to be the best thing in his life.

In sports films there has been a long history of great coaches or managers and this one is no different. Coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton) is a fair man who trains his team very fairly.  He doesn’t pick favorites or take sides. He is a tough nut but knows how far he can go while training. The team has to fit into what he’s looking for and do better than the season prior. They didn’t do that well the season prior.  Edgerton plays this character as a very supportive man who goes to bat for his team.

This movie has a lot of the same tropes as many other sports films. Clooney doesn’t go too far to change things up from other films. The things he does regarding story elements still work in context to this film. The various struggles the team goes through and so forth. There is an underdog aspect to the story but because this is based on a true story it is a bit anticlimactic.  Anybody who wanted to could look up the story.

One of the things about sports films is that the sports have to be played in a realistic fashion.  With this movie being about rowing and crew teams there is a lot of rowing in the film. These scenes were done exceptionally well by Clooney and the cinematographer Martin Ruhe. There are a lot of tracking shots from the sky and close up scenes of the rowers’ faces. These scenes show the intensity of what these guys are doing and how hard it is.

The cast is filled with mostly unknowns but a few of the main characters played by Callum Turner, Peter Guinness, who plays the boat maker and friend to Turners Rantz, Chris Diamantopuilos who plays a reporter, James Wolk who plays the assistant coach and Hadley Robinson who plays Turners characters love interest. They all do a great job forwarding the story in their own ways with Turner who was in the Harry Potter Franchise film Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore . He is the anchor of the film and he holds his own very well as the lead. 

The Boys in the Boat is an inspirational story but what helps it be so inspiring is its score. From the very beginning of the film the score by Alexander Desplat is so powerful. It accompanied the story perfectly. There are lighter more tranquil notes near the beginning of the movie but as the story and competition intensified so does the score. This is one of the best scores of the year from one of the best composers working today in film.

The Boys In the Boat is a good sports film. It doesn’t go to the length of some of the great sports films but it is fine for what it’s trying to do. The cast are all fine with Turner as the standout. The cinematography is amazing and captures a lot of what goes into rowing. The tough nature of the sport as well as the symmetry that goes along with the athleticism. There is beauty to the sport that is unspoken. The score by Desplat brings the whole story together.  This is a change of pace from other holiday movies but audiences should enjoy it.

3 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen