The Boys in the Boat Movie is Great
And a commonly published, dorky critique of the film is symptomatic of this era of crappy American writing
In many ways, I was obligated to see The Boys in the Boat movie that hit theaters Christmas Day. The screen adaptation of the bestselling book of the same name by Seattle area author Daniel James Brown is directed by George Clooney, which is an awesome surprise development for what at its core is a story about a 1930s collegiate rowing team from the University of Washington. Such stories don’t tend to get heavy hitting star power behind it, yet here we are.
Why did Clooney sink his teeth into this story? The PBS interview embedded below is so painfully wholesome I had to watch it twice to let it sink in.
On a personal-professional note, as editor of The Sea Chest—the tri-annual journal of the Puget Sound Maritime historical society—there was absolutely no excuse to not see The Boys in the Boat. Our latest issue that hit the shelves in December contains a feature about the restoration/preservation efforts of the ASUW shell house that was penned by none other than Nicole Klein, the ASUW Shell House Capital Campaign Manager. The facility is central to The Boys in the Boat story, including the shell making loft of George Pocock who is a main character in the history, book, and movie.
So, how was it?
I rolled into my local three-screen theater for a viewing. What did I think? I loved it! In fact, I’m reminded of a previous Norris Note where I noted the Korean movie Road to Boston I saw in LA’s Koreatown. That film is an uplifting, what I’ll call positive-nationalist telling of marathon runners Kee-chung, Nam Seung-ryong, and Suh Yun-bok. After seeing Road to Boston, I lamented:
“I won’t spoil the thing, but man! I can’t recommend this movie highly enough. I feel like when I was growing up in the 90s and 00s, America was full of wholesome, true story standalone movies that inspired you to chase your dreams and brought out the best kind of patriotism. These days one needs to look to foreign films for a dose of this soul food. Road to Boston literally ends with the characters singing the Korean national anthem, their chests swelling with pride after the well earned victories of their hard running heroes. An unbidden tear ran down my cheek—a tear! The theater was mostly older folks for the weekday matinee showing, and they cheered on Suh during the race and wept audibly at the narrative beats. Seriously, I think the last time I got the same feeling was the 2010 movie Secretariat. Keep on rocking with that proud, uplifting vibe, Korean movies!”
The Boys in the Boat is the very Secretariat-like movie I asked for. A loyal telling of the history, there’s no reinventing the narrative wheel here. And honestly? Thank god. There are scenes where Joe cleans the boathouse with George Pocok that feel like Daniel San and Mr. Miyagi in the original Karate Kid. The romance between Joe and Joyce is about as sweet as Before Sunrise. Coach Ulbrickson’s handful of rousing team speeches invoke Remember the Titans.
My eyes misted up. Viewers in the theater cheered and gasped during the races and “awwwed” at the romantic scenes. I saw Oscar-nominated Oppenheimer to a full house and didn’t hear half the audience reaction during the entire 100ish hours of runtime. I left The Boys in the Boat inspired, ready to tackle life’s challenges and grateful for those who gave it all before me. Somehow, those scrappy Great Depression-era guys rowing to Olympic gold medal wins in the 1936 Berlin Olympics made the world better and my soul lighter. Humans are pretty great. My country can do great things, even when times are tough. You get the idea. There’s some earnest Boy Scouts camp with light Christian themes, but foremost solid storytelling. Sometimes those themes really land, even if I’m not a practicing Christian nor a Boy Scouts alum.
So imagine how I felt when I got home and turned to the internet to see what critics thought of the film. I was irked—but sadly not surprised—to see disastrous takes like this one profiled on CNN.com titled Opinion: ‘The Boys in the Boat’ joins a film canon selling this misleading myth. There are several critical takedowns of the movie like this, but I cite this one because it’s exemplar of pretty much all of them.
In short, this article opens with the author talking about himself and how he was a competitive swimmer who “…enjoyed swimming a lot, even though I was pretty bad at it.” After summarizing The Boys in the Boat plot a bit, the main takeaway is that the “misleading myth” we should all be concerned about is that hard work pays off. Here is the finale:
“…In the real world, though, starting out with a lot of money (like real estate heir Donald Trump) is generally the best guarantor of success in any endeavor, and most people who work hard end up, like Lizzy, with modest recognition at best. It’s fun and comforting to imagine a world of meritocratic justice. But I wish there were at least a few more films like “Showing Up” which focused on the oarsperson in the wrong boat, who pulled and pulled and finished second, or last.
As a very mediocre athlete, I’d like to see that movie. But also, a movie like that might help us remember that there are people like Joe with few resources who aren’t world-class rowers, and that they deserve a place to sleep, and a chance to study engineering too. When we insist that hard work and virtue is all you need for success, you have a rationale for refusing to help those with less. Why make sure Joe has a home when he’ll get one through skill and purity if he really deserves it? “The Boys in the Boat” is supposed to inspire and uplift. But the lie of meritocracy, repeated often enough, starts to look like an excuse to cut loose everyone but the most staggering successes, and let them drown.”
Honestly, what the fuck is this? This illogical, pathetic, unncessarily Trump-citing neurosis is so deeply ingrained in what I call “the literati” that it’s more the trope than the tropes these writers are hellbent on waging war against. Many of the critics dressing down The Boys in the Boat reek of failure and bitterness just like this self proclaimed “very mediocre athlete” who is deeply discomforted by the idea that hard working and talented people can win a rowing race almost 100 years ago and George Clooney would dare make a good movie about them. Meritocracy?! Blasphemy more like! Hissssssssss!
The timeless saying is that misery loves company. Despite all the masturbatory wordplay of the bizarre caste of Americans who’ve managed to Bogart the published word during these times, at their essence, they are just pathetics writing about themselves. What makes our time unique is that these pseudo-intellectual pathetics—who’ve always been among us—get published on CNN!
But dunking on this one piece—and the handful of similar pieces it represents—is of limited value. Responsibility goes to the top. These articles are symptoms, not causes, of a wider American writing sickness. What is going on with these corporate editorial boards and their billionaire bosses who publish this stuff in never-ending rivers? There are peculiar forces at work that are deeply threatened by stories of strong, capable, determined men who strive for victory, their potentials, and virtue. That a simple, well-executed movie about a real-life rowing team defying the odds to become world champions to a rousing chorus of God Bless America sends a pack of mainstream movie critics hissing like Gollum when exposed to an elven artifact is mostly funny, but also disturbing. It burnsessssssss ussssss!
These sad nerds should be self-publishing their takes on Substacks (no shame in it!), not as cherry gigs through our mainstream media. But hey, maybe this ethos is part of the reason for the ongoing, epic media market implosion. Maybe the typical reader isn’t tuning in because these smelly dorks took over and it’s essentially a peanut gallery of the people in the country you would never under any circumstances want to have a drink with.
The Boys in the Boat is a fine, classically told film adaptation of a true, inspiring, American story. If that interests you, see it if you can—ideally with a few impressionable young people who want to do big things with their lives. Whatever they want to do, they’ll be better served by this story.
Consider buying my book, Salmon in the Seine: Alaskan Memories of Life, Death, & Everything In-Between! Available where books are sold, including Amazon, Powell’s City of Books, and Third Place Books.
If the critic had read the book (which contains very important themes that the movie left out) he would have known better than to write what he did.