The Boys in the Boat Parent Guide

Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) has two weeks to pay the remainder of his tuition at the University of Washington or he can forget his dream of becoming an engineer. He urgently needs part-time employment but it’s the middle of the Great Depression and jobs are hard to find. So, when Rantz hears that a spot on the college rowing team comes with a job and a free bed, he shows up for tryouts.

Rantz has no experience rowing, but he’s tough, resolute, and desperate enough to gut out the grueling selection and training process. Coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton) is also determined to put together a winning crew: if he can’t deliver victories, his funding could be jeopardized. Ramping up the stakes are the fact that this is an Olympic year and America’s top college team will represent the country at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Let me be blunt: The Boys in the Boat is basically Chariots of Fire on the water, but with thinner character development and less depth. It’s one of those movies that looks better than it is. The rowing scenes are lyrical, lovingly capturing the rush of the boats across the water. The crews are caught with sweat, sunburn, and exhaustion – but the film has a hard time conveying the sense of “flow” that so energized this group of men. In an odd directorial choice, the production puts a golden nostalgic gloss over the poverty that traps Rantz and his teammates. Living in a car, plugging worn shoes with paper, eating at soup kitchens, child abandonment – all of this is treated more as character-building experience than as economic deprivation with potential long-term consequences.

Based on a true story, this movie comes with few surprises, not just in the script but also in terms of negative content. There are approximately two dozen profanities, a bit of kissing, some historically accurate smoking, and a few scenes of celebratory alcohol consumption and jovial intoxication. If you’re looking for an underdog sports movie that can be safely watched with teenagers, this is a decent choice. The movie also has some positive messages about determination, teamwork, and perseverance in the face of adversity. Remarkably, it features a moment of unexpected, staggering generosity – which to me is the highlight of the entire film and might be reason enough to watch it. The Boys in the Boat isn’t a gold medal film in my books, but it turns in a decent performance.