The Boys in the Boat…the feel-good movie of…the week after Christmas…

Sigh…we are moving into that post-Christmas movie doldrum period where shelling out money for a show feel more like a habit than an event. And even though I think The Boys in the Boat actually did come out at Christmas, it was overshadowed by Wonka (yay!) and Aquaman (yeesh). Time management, people.

The Boys in the Boat: the General Tso’s of feel good movies

So cool, I was able to see a decent movie this week. Because I think pretty much everything new that my local moviehaus brought in last week is pooptrash. I saw the previews for Beekeeper and even those are pretty low quality. I welcome anyone who can prove me wrong.

And don’t even get me started on the redo of Mean Girls. That is the very definition of a remake that nobody asked for. Or wanted. But back to the Boys in the Boat…

Wasn’t that what Jesse Owens did?

The Boys in the Boat is a period piece set in the heart of the Great Depression in pre-WWII America. Adolf the Vile is hosting the 1936 Olympics and is bent on proving German superiority on a world stage. Enter the University of Washington Scull Team, Junior Varsity. In a country desperately needing a win, some of the most down-trodden, second-stringers rise to the occassion.

Armed with little more than American grit and determination, this unlikely band of students win the hearts of a country starving for hope. And even though Jesse Owens was the big story of that Olympiad, and he did make a little cameo in this movie, the story of the boys in the boat was still…nice.

So sure, it was a feel-good movie and that was nice

As it is with movies like Cinderella Man, where you knew the outcome walking in, it’s nice. But unlike Cinderella Man, the stakes are comparatively low. In Cinderella Man, we find it easy to become invested in the Riches to Rags to Riches true story of James J. Braddock and family. It helps that the cast was absolutely top shelf. The stakes for TBitB weren’t quite so high. Or personal.

For the most part, The Boys in the Boat had no marque names attached. Joel Edgerton, we’ve seen. Callum Turner’s face is familiar. And I actually had to Google where I saw Courtney Henggeler before (nice to see you again, Mrs. LaRusso). The only big name attached to this is director George Clooney. I’ve heard of that guy. Other than him…eh. Not much in the way of star-power. Still, everyone in the cast did a nice job.

AWKwerd

Maybe you’ve noticed the purposeful overuse of the word ‘nice’. That’s because it fits this movie…uh…nicely. Nothing about The Boys in the Boat was bad. Not at all. But nothing really stands out, either. The gold standard of feel-good movies might be Cinderella Man. There were cheers from the audience at the end of it. With BitB, I noticed a smattering of applause…the kind that dies off quickly when they realize that they are clapping alone. Yoiks. Good thing the lights had not come up yet.

So yeah.The Boys in the Boat was a nice movie, made a bit nicer because it came at at time of year when nice is a rarity, and that’s not nothing. Still, I’m only giving it a 3.3 out of 5. Not a feel-good movie I’ll put in my regular rewatch rotation (like Bagger Vance). I won’t stop and watch 5 minutes every time I see it on the random (like Tombstone). It was just…kind of…what’s the word I’m looking for…?

Check out all the Average Dude Movie Reviews and our super cool merch at www.barredlands.com

Like and Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter/X

#barredlandsdotcom #AverageDudeMovieReviews #PCLoadletter64

#theBoysintheBoat #FeelGoodMovies #GeorgeClooney #JoelEdgerton #CallumTurner