Page 11 - Markl Smith News Today

Steeped in old-fashioned virtues and a feel-good underdog story, “The Boys in the Boat” isn’t bad, but it doesn’t it ever navigate its way out of the shallow end of the sports-movie pool either. As it happens, Jesse Owens makes a cameo in this tale about the US Crew team from the University of Washington, a link to a better-known story from the 1936 Olympics that still eclipses this one.

‘The Boys In The Boat’ Production Designer On Building 1930s World Of George Clooney’s Rowing Drama

It would have been great. Here’s why it didn’t happen.

"There's nothing you learn from success. You learn everything from failing and fear of failing is what holds people back from doing anything," Clooney told Yahoo Entertainment.

Director George Clooney follows formula as college lads aim for gold at the 1936 Olympics.

American Fiction

Director George Clooney both begins and ends “The Boys in the Boat ” on a sun-dappled lake. Telling the true-life story of the University of Washington rowing team, a scrappy group that — incredibly — reached the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Clooney has gone for stirring and a bit stodgy, pleasing and a bit predictable. In place of edge, we do get moments of beauty, especially when the boys get into those boats.

Director George Clooney both begins and ends “The Boys in the Boat ” on a sun-dappled lake. It’s a seductive sight, calm and soothing, and aptly reflects the ethos of a film that often feels like one has walked into an oil painting: well-crafted, lovely to look at, and rather old-fashioned.

Director George Clooney both begins and ends “The Boys in the Boat ” on a sun-dappled lake. It’s a seductive sight, calm and soothing, and aptly reflects the ethos of

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