 George Clooney's back behind the director's chair, this time bringing a true story to the big screen, The Boys in the Boat. I was a big fan of this trailer and I'm a sucker for a good underdog story, so I was eager to see this one. And thankfully Regal had one of those Monday mystery movies that I attended. And I'm glad I did. Let's talk about The Boys in the Boat. Hey, if you like listening to a guy ramble about movies, doing movie roasts, talking movies on live streams, this is the place for you, so why don't you go ahead and roll your ass up to that subscribe button, smack it with a paddle, and you can stick around for further videos. Let's talk about this flick in a spoiler-free fashion, because it's probably not even going to be out yet by the time this review goes up. This is set in the 1930s during the Depression. So not a great time, not ideal for a lot of people. And it's going to take place mostly at the University of Washington. Caleb Turner plays Joe Rantz. He's the main protagonist of this movie. Very much in dire straits. He's living out of a car. He has no parents. He's got no real job prospects, but he is thankfully attending this university. And he is given the opportunity to join the illustrious row team. This is a team where they only need eight people at the junior level. Tryouts are going to be insane. He's really going to have to prove his worth, show his salt, show his merit, all of those things. I really, really dug this film. It's probably in my top 10 of the year, and it's not because it's some mind-blowingly amazing film. It's just, it felt good. It felt like a movie that came out in the 80s and 90s. Something like A Remember the Titans and Iron Will, a league of their own. These underdog films where a group of people has to come together, take on all the obstacles and challenges both on the field and off with their personal struggles, their physical struggles, and just really show what they can do. Whether or not they succeed, well, that's, that's up for you to find out if you watch the movie or read the book or, you know, just know the event itself, which I did not know. So this was all a very fun surprise for me about this row team that potentially has the opportunity to go to the Olympics and potentially win the Olympics in Nazi Germany. And this movie doesn't shy away from symbols and from characters. And I just really dug that Clooney wasn't afraid to show everything. I appreciate that in 2023 where a lot of people might veer away and, and cower and not really put all the wounds and all the warts in front of people. Joe is a very likable character. I think Caleb did a fantastic job here. Definitely the most beautiful homeless guy I've ever seen. The man is, the man is gorgeous on the eyes and this is coming from a straight dude. I can still appreciate when a guy looks good. The woman, the, the female love interest is a smoke show as well. So I appreciate both very good stuff here. The chemistry is great. Joel Edgerton, he plays the coach. A very, he's, he's, he's doing a very good job of not going overboard with the performance. It's a subdued character performance and I liked it a lot. Edgerton does a great job as the coach. There's a lot of side characters just like in these older films that you get to know a little bit. They all have their quirks. They all have their own problems and baggage and by the end of it, you know what? It's going to get resolved. I will say my only real big criticism of this is that some storylines are not completely resolved in Joe's life, which was a little head scratching because Clooney takes the time to build some of these relationships up. And by the end, you're kind of left hanging unless you know the backstory of this character. But it was a little bit of a, why did you even introduce this if you didn't really go anywhere with it? I mean, I, I, it wasn't bad by any means. It just was a little weird that he didn't quite pay off some of those things and we have to leave it to our imagination or go look up more about the character. Cinematography, gorgeous, looks really good. There's a lot of rowing action in this. It's not just one little scene and a training montage. You have three pretty big events to my recollection, plus a lot of training, a lot of getting their butts kicked at grueling hours of the day. It's the kind of stuff I really like to watch where it's just regular guys getting up and just putting in the work. It makes me, movies like this inspire me. I was at the gym yesterday with my son. I found myself working out a little bit harder, doing a little bit more because you see what some of these people can do and it's just inspiring. It's just, it's really inspiring stuff. So yeah, this isn't an amazing movie by any means, but it was a damn good movie and it brought me back to those touchstone classics, those movies that I grew up with and I wish they made more of. Although I feel like on this last leg of the year, between this and Wonka and a couple other films, we are getting some movies that do harken back to the 90s where I thought cinema was just at its peak where they weren't trying to pander to so many different people in every film and trying to check every box. They were just telling the story and they were trying to make something really special and I think Clooney knocks it out of the park here. That's my thoughts on the boys in the boat. I don't know if this will be a big hit or if this is just kind of unceremoniously kind of spit out the bottom of the year but hopefully people go out and see it and we can support movies like this. I highly recommend it. Alright, let me know if you went to an early screener and you saw it or if you're excited for it now. Leave a comment, like the video. Please subscribe if you haven't. I post tons of movie reviews, movie roasts, live streams twice a week. It's all movies all the time over here. I give you my honest opinion even if you don't agree with it. I'm just trying to have fun, trying to entertain and just be honest. At the end of the day, what more can you ask for? Alright, thank you for watching and hopefully I see you next time. Take care.