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# MOVIE REVIEW: The Boys in the Boat (2023)
- URL: https://www.bensmovieguide.com/the-boys-in-the-boat-2023-review/
- Published: 2026-10-27T16:24:58.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-27T16:24:58.000Z
- Description: A struggling college student joins a rowing crew for the paid work and finds an opportunity far beyond staying in school. The Boys in the Boat follows an unlikely team’s push toward the Olympics with familiar but engaging underdog storytelling.
- Author: Ben
- Tags: #title-only, #movie, Movie: The Boys in the Boat (2023), drama, sports, biography, 2020s, Rating: PG-13, #Runtime: 123, #Rated For: language and smoking, #Verdict: Rent, #Watch: Major Platforms, #Eyebrow: EIGHT MEN, ONE CHANCE

Trying out for a college team is one thing. Trying out because you need a job and somewhere to sleep gives the selection process a little more urgency.

That’s where *The Boys in the Boat* begins. Before anyone can think about competing against the world’s best, there’s the more immediate problem of getting through college during the Great Depression.

**What It’s About**

Callum Turner plays Joe Rantz, a University of Washington student barely scraping by. When he learns that making the rowing team comes with paid work, he tries out despite having little reason to think he belongs in a racing shell.

He’s hardly the only applicant who needs the money.

Coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton) has to turn these young men into a crew capable of competing against established programs with greater resources. Physical strength helps, but eight men pulling hard won’t accomplish much unless they learn to move together.

Based on a true story, the movie follows their unlikely push toward the 1936 Berlin Olympics. For Joe, that means learning to depend on other people after spending much of his life getting by on his own.

**Who It’s For**

If you enjoy sports movies about overlooked people earning their opportunity, this is comfortably in your territory. You don’t need to know anything about rowing. The movie makes the effort, coordination and pressure understandable enough to give you a reason to care when the boats line up.

The storytelling is conventional, and several teammates remain less developed than Joe. Anyone hoping for a detailed portrait of the entire crew may find it a little thin.

But the races provide momentum, and the Depression setting gives the opportunity real value. For an evening when you want a straightforward story about perseverance and teamwork, *The Boys in the Boat* is an easy film to settle into.

An old-fashioned underdog story about young men who need more than a win. The familiar sports-movie formula works best when it lets their circumstances give the races meaning.

![MOVIE REVIEW: The Boys in the Boat (2023)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Boys-in-the-Boat-2023-16x9.jpg)

![MOVIE REVIEW: The Boys in the Boat (2023)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Boys-in-the-Boat-2023-2x3.jpg)

![MOVIE REVIEW: The Boys in the Boat (2023)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Boys-in-the-Boat-2023-4x5.jpg)

![MOVIE REVIEW: The Boys in the Boat (2023)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Boys-in-the-Boat-2023-5x6.jpg)

![MOVIE REVIEW: The Boys in the Boat (2023)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Boys-in-the-Boat-2023-6x5.jpg)

![MOVIE REVIEW: The Boys in the Boat (2023)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Boys-in-the-Boat-2023-3x1.jpg)

![MOVIE REVIEW: The Boys in the Boat (2023)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e9/54/e9540ff8-9c7a-495e-932d-5ba71686447c/content/images/2026/10/The-Boys-in-the-Boat-2023-1600x727.jpg)