When people think about sports, rowing isn’t usually a sport that comes to mind. However, the recently released movie “The Boys in the Boat” is centered around a team of rowers who compete in the 1936 summer Olympics in Berlin. This two hour and three minute movie based on the book with the same title is suspenseful and a great historical lesson that is well worth watching in theaters.
The movie starts with an older man sitting on a dock with trees in the background watching kids on the lake rowing in teams and practicing individually. A young boy ends up struggling in a boat tangled up in the trees on the bank. This scene creates a flashback for the man on the dock, and this flashback tells the story of the rest of the movie.
The old man is Joe Rantz, the main character. During the Great Depression, Rantz struggles to feed himself and make enough money to go to college. Rantz starts college at the University of Washington and decides to try out for the rowing team. Rantz is one of eight freshmen out of 175 boys that is selected to be in the boat. After getting the job, hard practices start the day after. Even though Rantz and the other seven boys are on the junior varsity team, they synchronize together. The boys continuously prove themselves in meets despite tough practices. Their head coach, Al Ulbrickson, realizes the potential that this team has and decides that the junior varsity team is going to the Olympics instead of the varsity. Despite the many obstacles they face along the way, the team is able to make history.
Even though the reviews on this movie are mixed, I think the movie deserves 5 stars. One thing I enjoyed about the movie was the setting. The scenery and costumes of the movie fit well with the timeline because of the use of old cars and fashion from the 1930’s. Regardless of the bad things that happened in real life at that time, I think they did a good job of showing the struggles of the Depression, such as their harsh living conditions and hard time finding jobs, to help show how the team’s achievements were more meaningful.
Overall, this movie was one of my favorite movies of all time to watch, and I would definitely see it again. I enjoyed that this movie shows how they were devoted, the challenges they went through to get to the Olympics and more about the sport itself. This movie inspired me to attempt rowing at some point in my life, and I gained knowledge of how to row a boat, which is why the movie is so interesting. I would recommend this movie to anybody who loves sports, action and wants to be excited about a lesser-known but still thrilling sport.
