Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

The Boys in the Boat Blu-ray Movie Review

Row vs. wade.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III June 23, 2024

I've been a dad for almost 14 years now, but apparently not quite long enough to like "dad movies" yet. Even so, perhaps George Clooney's The Boys in the Boat isn't the best example of one: its a well-meaning period drama that's (say it with me) based on a true story and as such, the end result falls fails to generate much excitement with a mostly predictable, paint-by-numbers plot and no shortage of cinematic clichés at its fingertips. In all honesty, The Boys in the Boat might have felt more at home if released two or three decades ago... but even then, this sports underdog drama even pales in comparison to the like-minded Cinderella Man, which itself is just barely a 4/5 in my book.

Of course, there are no wild KOs or even fisticuffs to be found in The Boys in the Boat, just one mild scuffle. There is, however, a prominent Great Depression backdrop and even some good old-fashioned jingoism to spice things up... and for some, that might be enough. Our story, based on the 2013 novel by Daniel James Brown, follows a group of boys hand-picked to represent the University of Washington's eight-man rowing team; all are struggling financially in one way or another, and their shared will to succeed offsets a lack of experience. Among them is Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) and his pal Roger Morris (Sam Strike), with the former even basically living out of an abandoned car and eating canned food by firelight. Desperate UV rowing coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton, Master Gardener), feeling pressured to take down a rival team from the University of California, smooths off most of the rough edges from his unlikely new JV team, and Al's as surprised as anyone when they mop the floor with his sworn enemies in record time.

Even anyone totally unfamiliar with the original story should've seen this win coming, of course. And that's the main problem with The Boys in the Boat: besides being predictable, it's condensed to within an inch of its life but somehow still feels kinda slow and meandering. One victory leads to another and before long, the original book's subtitle ("Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics") is fulfilled. Not surprisingly, backstories for most of "the boys" are either skimmed or ignored completely, the team's factual three-year journey is now barely one, and other various subplots -- such as a sugar-free vanilla romance for Joe Rantz in lovely young Joyce (Hadley Robinson), as well as an eleventh hour funding fiasco that's resolved before it has time to register -- just feel egregiously tacked-on to make sure The Boys in the Boat checks all the usual cinematic boxes. (One brief conversation in Berlin with the team and a young Jesse Owens, however, made my eyes roll almost completely out of my head.)

Yet from a pure sports-underdog perspective, The Boys in the Boat is at least passable. Mild excitement is maintained during some of the admittedly well-paced rowing sequences (below), and the film's production design does a fine job building a world for its characters to inhabit. (Martin Ruhe's cinematography mostly plays it straight, but sporadically goes into hand-held documentary "zoom" mode and each of these brief shots distracts more than the last.) But at the risk of spoiling my only purely positive paragraph, The Boys in the Boat will at least appeal to those interested in its particular subject matter, or of course anyone who falls for this genre every single time. Even so, it'll for sure be a "once and done" affair for most, which doesn't exactly bode well for Warner Bros.' bonus-free Blu-ray.

The Boys in the Boat Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Boys in the Boat largely impresses on Blu-ray where its powdery and mostly desaturated palette are represented well for the format. Fine detail is quite good in close-ups and wide shots alike, with overall contrast levels and shadow detail likewise holding up nicely in many of its naturally-lit locales. Black levels aren't especially deep by design, often running closer to a dark gray, but don't fall victim to crush thanks to capable disc encoding. As mentioned earlier, colors hold steady and don't suffer from any obvious signs of bleeding, although some of the film's warmest oranges and one very brief third-act scene in a photography darkroom stand out a bit unnaturally. Even so, this is by and large a very nicely-produced Blu-ray and should look just about perfect on small to mid-sized screens, whereas once again those with larger displays might silently curse Warner Bros./MGM for not offering a 4K UHD option.

The Boys in the Boat Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

In contrast, the default Dolby Atmos track seems like overkill for a film that doesn't regularly aim for ambitious sonic territory. Nonetheless, the surrounds are fairly active due the high number of characters in select locations -- a crowded college classroom, the rowing team's training grounds, a packed train station, and of course the Olympic stadium and grandstands in Berlin. Elsewhere, the sound stage is filled out capably by more natural ambience and echo, as well as the solid original score composed by Alexandre Desplat. As for the height channels? They're as reserved as you might expect but do get a bit of action during the busiest sequences mentioned above as well as enthusiastic crowd support from the cheap seats. So while The Boys in the Boat may not feel like an ideal Atmos candidate, it's a nice touch but those limited to a 7.1 or even 5.1 downmix won't be missing all that much. (As usual, I'm not sure why WB bothered to include a lossy 5.1 track here, as most receivers will downsample the Atmos track automatically.)

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), as well as several foreign dubs are offered during the main feature.

The Boys in the Boat Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with a matching matte-finish slipcover and a Digital Copy redemption code. Much like American Fiction (another Amazon MGM title released by WB last week), no extras are included.

The Boys in the Boat Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

George Clooney's The Boys in the Boat certainly means well and manages to generate a bit of underdog excitement at key moments, but otherwise feels too familiar to really make any serious waves in the current cinematic landscape. Fittingly, Warner Bros.' Blu-ray supports the film's solid A/V pedigree well enough for the format (sadly, no 4K option is available), but low replay value and no bonus features make this a release for established fans only.