The Boys in the Boat has been shrouded in secrecy, with scant few images or screenings on offer. The release date is later this year. The ongoing actors strike limits what Clooney can do but now, we finally have a look at the film with a featurette and exclusive photos in People.
The featurette does a good job of explaining the story, why it is worth telling and remembering. The young men were underdogs among the elite colleges in the country earning their spot in the Olympic games. And of course, when they beat the supposedly superior Nazis, all the better.
Daniel James Brown, the author of the book, says:
“At its heart, this is a story not just about a rowing team but about a generation of Americans who learned to put aside differences and come together in very tough times to accomplish great things,” Brown adds.
“The young men at the heart of the story personify what is best about Americans — our perseverance, our optimism, our sense of fairness, our ability to confront adversity together.”
The film stars mostly unknowns, except Joel Edgerton. According to People:
In addition to Edgerton, 49, and Turner, 33, the cast also includes Peter Guinness, Jack Mulhern, James Wolk, Hadley Robinson, Courtney Henggeler, Sam Strike, Thomas Elms, Luke Slattery, Bruce Herbelin-Earle, Wil Coban, Thomas Stephen Varey and Chris Diamantopoulos.
The screenplay is by Mark L. Smith, with music by Alexandre Desplat. The Amazon MGM Studios film is produced by Clooney and Grant Heslov.
Leni Riefenstahl filmed it all, no doubt thinking the Germans would win:
It really is a great story where the underdogs prevail.
This is a universal story and one that could invite in all Americans as long as they feel welcome. The “working class” is a term frequently brought up for obvious reasons. Lazy journalism will proclaim we’re in danger of a “fascist takeover” by Nazis. That would be not just a misinterpretation of what fascism is (state, corporate, culture alignment of power against the citizen) and an ugly lie the media tells every day. I really dread sentences like “here we are facing the same thing.” No. Just no. Don’t.
Hollywood used to tell stories about the working class, even the forgotten working class, for nearly its entire history up until right this moment. The main reason being, the people at the top at the moment, in culture, in politics see inequality only through the lens of race and gender, not so much class anymore. The reason for that is, of course, that so many of them have reached for Trump and MAGA as their last hope in a country that has moved on without them and sold them out to send yet more money to the top. The hatred for Trump has led to further marginalization and abandonment of anyone who would identify as the “working class.”
I bring all of this up because I’m grateful someone has made a movie like this, something we just don’t see much anymore. One of my favorites is Breaking Away:
Everyone is divided by the state they live in, the person they voted for, what cable news channel they watch. It’s truly hideous. Movies can still be the great uniter as long as Hollywood remembers that they should make movies for everyone, not just a select few.
The Boys in the Boat has the potential to be a late-breaker in the Oscar race.
