There’s a moment before the big race in the finale of “The Boys in the Boat” where the American team are waiting to enter and they come across Jessie Owens. Owens, being the only black character who appears a total of twenty seconds, confirms that he hopes he is “the fastest man alive” when they ask him. “You gonna race for Germany and give Hitler what for?” they ask salivating, “No, I’m gonna do it for America.” They all give each other bewildered looks (Him America not like Our America? Nuh uh!) pretty much perpetuating the sheer tone deafness of George Clooney’s latest film.
His movie almost always finds an interesting angle and point to go in and then veers off the track colliding in to sheer nothingness.
Whether it’s meant as a testament to America or the “indelible human spirit” is moot as “The Boys in the Boat” is one of the most milquetoast sports movies ever made. It is sheer sugar free vanilla on white toast on pale, blank back drop. It’s that kind of safe, flavorless, inoffensive fodder you’ll probably find airing on basic cable television repeatedly in a few years. You can take the grandparents for a early afternoon matinee and not worry about seeing anything more offensive than young men drinking beer. “The Boys in the Boat” is technically proficient and beautifully shot, when all is said and done. And that kind of seems to be the whole point.
“The Boys in the Boat” is based on the #1 New York Times bestselling non-fiction novel written by Daniel James Brown, about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. This true story follows a group of underdogs at the height of the Great Depression as they are thrust into the spotlight and take on elite rivals from around the world.
Clooney is a very good director (paired with the ace editing) when he is really aiming to challenge himself, and I liked a lot of the sequences of the characters competing, and pushing themselves to the limit. I also liked Joel Edgerton as the hard nosed captain of the rowing team. Nevertheless, “The Boys in the Boat” is more like a check list of tropes from underdog sports movies and period pieces. There’s the underdog team that learn to work together, the obvious class divide, and the gruff reluctant hero Joe Rantz, the gorgeous love interest (Hadley Robinson is a doll); our main character Joe even learns about life through the art of painting row boats with a wise old master who always has a nugget of wisdom at the ready.
I was very optimistic about “The Boys in the Boat” but it’s all so hollow and rote most of the time. If anything it has just enough brownie points to push Clooney over the edge for a few nominations come Oscar season.