"The Boys in the Boat" Review

[@donnad1204]

Why not do those things you mentioned? Because it never happened. What was actually left out was that Joes mother died when he was three. He was sent to a relative to live. Then he went back to his dad and the new wife and kids. The new wife didn’t want Joe with them. Then he was abandoned again at ten and again at 14. He had to forage for food. The background of Joe Rantz could have made it more important that he won a Gold Medal. He was my father in law. My son is his grandson. So I knew him. And Joyce. The movie did let us know the boys were poor and that Joe had been abandoned, but we would have liked to see more on his background. George Clooney said he was trying to keep the movie to two hours so that restricted what he could show. Also the whole thing did not take place in the year 1936. They rowed for two or three years before the boys who went on to win Gold were solidified as the ones who would be The Crew. The real story is more unbelievable and underdog than it even showed. But the tensions built up with the races made it exciting and these boys were all underdogs, trying to survive and trying to win, in crew and in life.

[@salandpalsgotothemovies8052]

See i would have liked if they touched upon his background then it would have shown where he started and then went to win gold. The fact that i mentioned stuff that didn't happen was cause just like in the movie George Clooney for the last race he made it a photo finish which never happened at all. So as you can see movies don't hesitate to bend things for the "benefit" of the movie. Which I said i rather see their beginning to get more of a feel of their journey. But thanks for sharing your connection to Joe

[@donnad1204]

Yes it was a very close finish, “instead of a photo to reveal the winner, the judges had to deliberate for a few minutes to determine the placements of each team. Brown said, "It was an extremely close finish, and no one knew who had won. There were photos taken (by spectators) of that finish, but I don't have any reason to think they took a photo to determine who won.” That worked for the film. They truly did get the worst lane and started late because they didn’t hear the starting gun go off from that lane. Still they won gold !

[@salandpalsgotothemovies8052]

@@donnad1204 exactly