One of the best things about writing about George Clooney’s film (he directed it) “The Boys in the Boat” is that you never have to say “SPOILER ALERT!!!”. That’s because you know the ending before you walk into the theater. The film is about the 8 man crew team from the University of Washington that won a rowing Gold Medal at the 1936 Olympics on the Langer See, outside of Berlin. At the start of the film, you know they are going to win that medal, and that does take away some of the suspense, to be sure. But…..

During the movie, you see races near Seattle and outside of Poughkeepsie, as well as at the Langer See, and the filming of the races themselves are so exciting that, even though you know who is going to win and – besides that – even though you probably don’t care about University of Washington sports team, much less their crew, you are glued to the race and, when UW wins, you swell with pride, and breathe a sigh of relief. What more can you ask?

The general story line is that the University of Washington was certainly not known as a rowing powerhouse, and – in the midst of the Depression – its team members were by and large impoverished, young men, trying to find their way in a very difficult world. The comparison is continually made to the Ivy League teams, as well as the English university teams, which are generally manned by wealthy, self-entitled boys, whose families have rowed for generations.

So it’s an underdog, sports story, and you know exactly how it is going to come out. But the races do seem to stand on their own two feet (mixing a metaphor or two).

The story line – not so much. It is pretty trite, concentrating on a tall, handsome blond teenager (who else would you want to outdo the Germans?), with a beyond hardscrabble past, who makes his way onto a team through a very competitive process, who meets the love of his life at school, who has some emotional problems to overcome, and who becomes the leader/a leader/an important member of the crew that wins the Gold in Berlin.

Rotten Tomatoes shows 163 critic’s reviews of the film. The positive reviews constitute only 57% of the reviews. For those who have seen the film, this must be a surprise. Rotten Tomatoes reports that the 2000+ audience reviews give the film a 97% positive edge.

The critics don’t like the fact that this is a straightforward film without twists and turns. The audience likes that. The critics don’t like that you know the end before the film starts. The audience likes that. The critics find this just another sports film. The audience likes that. The critics find this just another underdog film. The audience likes that. The critics find this just another happy ending film. The audience…….

You get the picture? To the extent that this is an old fashioned type of film – one that avoids the more sophisticated plots and techniques of most current films is something that the audience is yearning for. And, with this film, they get it. In a world falling apart (just look outside your window), what could be better than a feel good, rags to riches, all-American story? It’s just what everyone is searching for.

I am not sure how much of the film is fictionalized – although I have read a number of reviews and descriptions of the film. I do know that, when told that they have to raise their own funds for the trip to Europe, the frenetic fund raising activities did occur, but that check to provide the last $300 was a fictionalized dramatic feature. I also don’t think that Joe (the central character) lived in a hobo camp (from what I read, he lived with an older brother and his family; his brother was a high school teacher). And there was no “photo finish” in the Olympic race – just a very tight finish. So I am sure that much was drama, not factual recitation. 

The film is based on a best selling book – I think a lot of the dramatization was based on the book, that the film tracked the book better than the real life events. But – for this film – I don’t know that it makes much of a difference.

I read a couple of other things. You think you see racing taking place in Washington State, Poughkeepsie and Berlin? Nope – all of the races were filmed in England. In fact, the film was completely filmed in England. And almost all those Americans, with their American accents, were either British or Australian. And the rowers for the University of California, or Syracuse, or Cornell, or those European countries in Berlin? Everyone was, apparently, British.

And finally, do I recommend the film to you? Yes, I do. And the critics? The critics understand the film well; their descriptions, by and large, are accurate. But they don’t understand the audience. Maybe they spend too much time watching movies.