Well, everyone, today we are going to go into the genre known as historical drama. Therefore, today’s review will be based on a true story. This time, it will be a film that is set in 1936, between WWI, and WWII. So now, let’s discuss the historical drama film that was just released on Christmas Day, The Boys In The Boat.
Plot: The Boys In The Boat depicts how, in 1936, a college student from University Of Washington named Joe Rantz (Callum Turner), and seven other college students from that school became some of the best boat rowers and representatives from the US at that time.
Well, I will start this review off by saying that the score in this film is amazing. I haven’t usually been one to start off the positive aspects of a movie review by saying something like that in the past. So, I figured it was time for me to start off a film review like this one by mentioning something along those lines now. That being said, in regards, Desplat has this beautiful, calm, and peaceful way of drawing the audience into the story from the start. That is thanks to a mix of piano, and some other instruments that were thrown into the mix throughout the beginning, and the rest of the film. Truthfully, Desplat should get a nomination for Best Original Score for this film. He most definitely deserves it. If he does get nominated in that category, will he win? Probably not, but one can only hope, and dream, that’s for sure. In addition to all of this, the acting is phenomenal, especially from Callun Turner (Joe Rantz), Joel Edgerton (Coach Ulbrickson), Hadley Robinson (Joyce Simdars), and others. Next, there’s the cinematography. Boy, is the scenery from the cinematography amazing in this film! What else is there!?! Well, there’s also the amazing history that goes along with this movie in particular. I mean to hear that the US competed not only with other states like California, but also with other nations around the world, including ones like Austria, and Germany, which is interesting considering that the events in which this film took place occurred just three years before WWII began. Not only that, but it was also amazing that this movie showed how different things were back then. Yes, that may be the case due to there not being Internet back then, or not as much technological advancement, and things like that. However, this movie also successfully showed how much kinder people were back then, how much more determined people during this time period were to get done what they needed to, regardless of how much work they had to go through, how much food people sometimes needed to cut out, or things like that. After I watched this film, I had a conversation with someone who also saw this movie, and made a comment that so many of the younger people in their 20s, 30s, and maybe even 40s, if not older, especially need to see The Boys In The Boat. His reason being that he’s noticed that a lot of people in today’s day, and age have seemed to act as if they’re entitled to have whatever they want, regardless of how much, or little work they do. Is he right? Very much so! In fact, when one compares people who lived during the time that this film took place, and those who in today’s society, it’s surprisingly very drastic, and I’m sure some people can guess why. So, there’s another reason for hoping that a lot of people will see this movie, and learn some very valuable lessons from the people who lived during the events in which The Boys In The Boat took place. Anyway, not only does the film show how much kinder people were back then, and sometimes how generous others were when one is asking, and praying for a miracle, but it also showed the unfair side of people as well. Seeing as that was life even back then, it was good for this film to do that as well. And there’s another thing to mention in this review. This film did a tremendous job of showing how people like Joe Rantz were to get college paid for, being successful at Olympic sports like boat rowing, and how even people like Coach Al Ulbrickson were to get his team well-trained in the sport. Because of this, this movie taught amazing lessons on the appreciation of hard work, dedication to things one can be passionate about, and learning not to give up even when potentially easy to do. Not to mention how important it is to forgive others, no matter how much one has hurt you. If none of these aren’t reasons to convince one to see this film, then there could be others that I’m not mentioning. Still, hopefully these elements will be reasons to help others take seeing this film into consideration.
And that’s my review for The Boys In The Boat. If you want a film that not only is based on a true story, but also can help one take away some valuable lessons, then this is a film that is most definitely worth your time. The characters are well developed, are likable, especially main characters like Joe Rantz, and Coach Ulbrickson, and the characters, and story, overall, will teach people some really valuable lessons. If you haven’t seen this film, then please make a point to add The Boys In The Boat to your docket of movies to see in the movie theater, if you have one, ASAP. If you liked films like Remember The Titans, Seabiscuit, Secretariat, and other films of this type, then you’ll most definitely love The Boys In The Boat. So, go see it today, or some other time in the very near future. You’ll be blown away by lessons that can be taken away from this film, and the richness in history for this time period as well. So, fairwell, and see you in the next film review!
Final Grade: A+
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