The Boys In The Boat Review

Spoilers included (you have been warned!)

E. Y. Nam

IT IS A CLASSIC UNDERDOG STORY, ONE THAT EVERYONE LIKES TO ALIGN THEMSELVES WITH. A recount regarding the glory of the Washington rowing team and their journey to the summit, leading their country to honour and victory.

Before I make my critique, a brief back-story might be needed.

Based on a true story and adapted from the novel, the film follows the story of UWashington’s Junior Varsity Rowing team and their challenges for the gold medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Led by Joe Rantz, (Actor Callum Turner) and made up of working-class young men, “Boys in the Boat” is the best kind of perfectly straightforward and inoffensive underdog tale, tracing the rousing journey of one penniless young man in his quest to become something more than his financial predicaments have thus far allowed him.

The film begins with Joe Rantz, A college student in the mid-1930s, Joe is hopelessly broke, quietly patching up the soles of his shoes and picking up odd jobs here and there to make ends meet.

When he finds that he can no longer afford his tuition, he decides to go out for his school’s crew squad, where only the best can claim one of its nine coveted spots.

It’s no spoiler to reveal that he soon discovers his natural aptitude for rowing. The scenes from there are reassuringly familiar and happy, and although the characters sometimes lack the necessary charisma to successfully advance the plot, it is important to highlight that the boat racing scenes are masterfully filmed. The suspense, the pain, the nerve-wracking start line, all rousing that triumphant emotion we feel, almost as if we’re racing for gold ourselves.

So, if you are looking for a study break and looking for a source of dopamine, you know what to look for.