The Boys in the Boat (2023) is directed by George Clooney and stars Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner, Hadley Robinson, Jack Mulhern, Peter Guinness, Luke Slattery, James Wolk, Courtney Henggeler, and Sam Strike. The film follows the story of the 1936 Washington University rowing team as they rise from an unknown JV squad to Olympic contenders. It centers around a young student, Joe Rantz (Turner), who is mostly concerned about how he will pay his tuition. He decides to try out when he discovers that making the rowing team comes with a part-time job. Under the watchful eye of coach Al Ulbrickson (Edgerton), Joe finds that the rowing team provides him with a sense of purpose as well as a family he never had. Joe, Al, and the rest of the team discover that their individual achievements pale in comparison to what they can achieve as a single unit. 

None of the performances are particularly larger than life here, but the characters are nevertheless strong. The characters the film does decide to focus on are given some nice nuance, but others are inexplicably left on the cutting room floor. Even then, certain characters that receive focus are so interesting that I wish I could’ve seen more. For example, Bobby Moch (Slattery) is sort of the runt of the group who likewise acts as everyone’s older brother. I used to work with kids for many years and his relationship with his teammates reminds me of my relationship with a lot of the kids. The thing is, he’s spottily introduced, focused on, and then completely forgotten about. Edgerton and Turner are serviceable in their roles but play protagonists that we’ve seen countless times in this kind of film. That being said, they are capable enough actors to elevate these caricatures above complete redundancy. To round things out, Peter Guinness is fun in the old wise man role. We’ve once again seen this kind of character before, but he provides the film with a decent amount of reflection/heart.

Although the film is easy to watch, it does suffer from an extremely conventional story. It follows closely in the footsteps of films such as Rudy (1993), Remember the Titans (2000), and Miracle (2004). Granted, these are great sports dramas to emulate, they just have a very specific structure that’s tough to subvert. If you subvert too many tropes, it sacrifices the inherent uplifting tone these kinds of films usually have to offer. 

The pacing is strong excluding a few of the racing sequences. It has at least three of them throughout its runtime, and with each one, they feel less exciting. They are shot in similar ways and have similar results. Each racing sequence should top the one that came before in order to avoid a feeling of redundancy.

The romantic elements between Joe and Joyce (Robinson) are nothing new, but there’s a certain old-fashioned aspect to it that feels appropriate for the tone. It’s a little cheesy, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t smile. That’s the thing about this movie, it’s annoyingly unoriginal in almost every aspect but I still couldn’t help but enjoy myself. It feels like a well-done throwback, both in its setting and execution. This is the most controlled I’ve seen Clooney as a director, his directorial flair only showing itself at the perfect moments. It feels like his most mature film since The Ides of March (2011). 

Overall, this is a flawed film that is undeniably fun to watch. You’ve seen this kind of movie before, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be disappointed. I imagine this will play best for a casual movie-going audience. The characters are sometimes fun, but ultimately a bit forgettable. I guess that’s kind of how I feel with most aspects of this film. Everything is pretty good but imperfect. There’s just a real lack of risks taken. If you like this kind of film, you won’t be disappointed. If you’re like me and prioritize originality over genre, you’ll probably be a bit underwhelmed. B-