Title – The Boys in the Boat (2023)

Director – George Clooney (The Midnight Sky) 

Cast – Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner, Peter Guinness

Plot – The true story of the University of Washington’s rowing team who under the watchful eye of coach Al Ulbrickson (Edgerton) made it all the way to the 1936 Berlin Olympics where they set their sights on taking Gold from their more fancied rivals. 

“That bunch of kids rowed like no one else who’s ever come through here”

Review by Eddie on 09/10/2024

All the way back in 2002, beloved actor George Clooney announced himself down as a director of note with his fun and inventive Sam Rockwell starrer Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, a cult classic that was followed on by the awards heavyweight Good Night, and Good Luck, a duo of films that suggested the long-term leading man was destined for long and sustained success in his directors chair. 

Fast-forward these two decades on and sadly with the recent release of Clooney’s latest true-life drama The Boys in the Boat we have another lifeless and forgettable directional outing from Clooney that while more tolerable than recent failures such as The Midnight Sky and Suburbicon, showcases a filmmaker that has lost touch with his medium, directing outings that are entirely devoid of life and spark despite potentially intriguing storylines and characters. 

The very definition of a film that just “happens”, Boys examines the trials and tribulations of the University of Washington’s men’s rowing team that in the early and mid-1930’s took their team all the way to the 1936 Berlin Olympics where they hunted a gold medal against much more fancied opposition while under the tutelage of determined coach Al Ulbrickson (played here by a sleepwalking Joel Edgerton). 

With a decent budget, a talented if hardly blockbuster cast and a real life sporting story that should get the adrenaline pumping and heartstrings played, Clooney had a chance to make Boys a feel good awards baiter, that while making a decent dent at the box office over the most recent Christmas holiday period, ends up being a film that never threatens to spark in any way, shape or form with a story and characters that feel like a collection of rather uninvolving happenings that will be forgotten about as soon as the credits begin to roll. 

There’s multiple instances in the film where it appears as though important moments are about to play out both small and large in scale but whether its a sickness threatening to derail plans, financial woes for individuals or the rowing team as a whole, love interests or rousing pre-race speeches, nothing in Boys comes to life in any significant way and if there was ever a film that could be accused of sleepwalking through its narrative it would be this effort by Clooney. 

Based off Daniel James Brown’s book of the same name, I have read that multiple people expected a lot from this tale coming to life on screen but at days end all this feature does is further mark down Clooney as a director that once showed much promise that has steadily and surely like night turns to day become a directional career full of half-baked and poorly executed ideas and moments. 

Final Say – 

A bland and lifeless sporting drama that is nothing more than a procession of scenes connected with little heart, soul or purpose, The Boys in the Boat may look the part but this true life tale is nothing more than a time wasting drag. 

1 1/2 photo finishes out of 5