Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview

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My Review of THE BOYS IN THE BOAT

The Boys in the Boat, rated PG-13
*** ½

The Boys in the Boat is a well-made inspirational film based on the best-selling book by Daniel James Brown. The film was directed by two-time Oscar winner George Clooney (Argo, Syriana). The screenplay was written by Mark L. Smith (The Reverant).
The film is set in 1936 during the depression. It focuses on the University of Washington Huskies eight-man rowing team. Coach Al Ulbrickson, played by Joel Edgerton (The Stranger), needs a winning season to keep his job. The best rowing team in the country will represent the United States in the Olympics to be held in Berlin in front of Hitler.
The film revolves around Joe Rantz, played by Callum Turner (Fantastic Beasts films). Jobs are hard to find. Turner lives in poverty, sleeping in an old car and patching holes in his shoes with newspaper, and doesn’t always have money for food. He is taking classes to be an engineer at the University of Washington. He has been on his own after being abandoned at age fourteen by his father. He barely has enough money to eat and if he doesn’t find a job soon, he will no longer be able to continue his college education, having fallen behind in paying his tuition.
Sitting behind him in his engineering class is Joyce, played by Hadley Robinson (Little Women). Joyce reminds him that he had a crush on her back in the fourth grade.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****
The film shows a growing romance between the two.
Joe hears about a way to get a job by making the eight-person rowing team at the university, so he and a friend go to the tryouts, which are physically grueling. Neither had any previous rowing experience, but Joe does make the team, which gives him a room and a job.
Peter Guinness plays George Pocock, the wise and likeable mentor and maker of the boats that the team will row.
The film takes us through a few of the team’s races, beginning with the battle against the University of California Bears. The junior team outperforms the varsity team, and the coach makes the controversial decision to use the junior varsity team, instead of the varsity team, in an important race. If things go badly in the race, it could cost Coach Ulbrickson his job.
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The film has themes of sacrifice, hard work, and teamwork. The film is given a PG-13 rating for some adult language, including the abuse of God’s and Jesus’s names.
None of the actors had any rowing experience prior to making the film. They trained for five months.
The film features a solid cast, with particularly good performances by Turner, Edgerton, and Guinness. It also features some excellent historically recreated settings, and period costumes.
The Boys in the Boat is an enjoyable, though slightly predictable underdog story that the entire family can enjoy, with the understanding that the film does contain some adult language.


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MOVIE REVIEW ~ Hail, Caesar!

Hail, CaesarHail, Caesar! Rated PG-13
**

This comedy from the Coen Brothers (four-time Oscar winners Ethan and Joel) is a tribute/spoof of 1950’s Hollywood. The brothers write, produce, direct and jointly edit this film under their Roderick Jaynes pseudonym. There are all kinds of inside jokes and references to real people and places here, including Eddie Mannix.

Oscar nominee (for Milk), Josh Brolin, plays Mannix, which is the name of a real person who did a similar job for MGM. Our Mannix is Head of Physical Production for Capitol Pictures. The film follows him through a day in his life in 1951 as he solves problems throughout the day and repeatedly goes to confession (dealing with his guilt about not stopping smoking, as he had promised his wife). He is being courted by Lockheed Aviation, who has made a lucrative offer and are pressing him for a decision. His studio is making a number of films, the biggest is the epic Ben Hur-like Hail, Caesar! A Tale of the Christ, starring Baird Whitlock (Two-time Oscar winner George Clooney in his fourth Coen Brothers film). Whitlock goes missing, kidnapped by a group of Communist screenwriters who call themselves “The Future” and take him to a luxurious oceanfront home in Malibu, demanding a ransom of $100,000.

Mannix also deals with star DeeAnna Moran’s (Scarlett Johansson) out of wedlock pregnancy, corporate’s orders to move singing cowboy Hobie Doyle (played by the likeable Alen Ehrenreich) to a romantic leading man, much to the chagrin of director Laurence Laurentz (Two-time Oscar nominee Ralph Fiennes), and two persistent gossip columnists, both played by Oscar winner (for Michael Clayton) Tilda Swinton. (Note: Swinton also portrayed the White Witch in the three Chronicles of Narnia films).

The film is rated PG-13, and includes minimal language issues that you can hear on network television, including one misuse of Jesus’ name. It also includes a good deal of faith related content played for comic purposes (from the filming of Hail Caesar! A Tale of the Christ, to Mannix’s frequent trips to the confessional, to Mannix’s humorous meeting with leaders of varied faith communities to assure that the film doesn’t offend any of them). Sexual content is more subtle and inferred (Moran’s Esther Williams aquatic number and Channing Tatum’s “No Dames” all-guys dance number).

The film has a strong cast (I haven’t mentioned Frances McDormand (Oscar winner for the Coen Brothers’ Fargo. Wife of Joel Coen, this is her eighth collaboration with the Coen brothers, as well as two-time Oscar nominee Jonah Hill in small roles), and has much (probably too much), going on as we follow Mannix through his day. The film is narrated by an uncredited Michael Gambon, known for his role as Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films.

I enjoyed the sets, hairstyles and costumes of 1950s Hollywood that are recreated here by production designer Jess Gonchor and costume designer Mary Zophres. Unfortunately, though I have seen several of their films, I don’t always get the Coen Brothers’ humor, though some in our theatre certainly did. Instead, despite the strong cast, I thought the film was just slow and boring, not really funny at all. Let me know if you feel otherwise.


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Movie Review ~ Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland MovieTomorrowland, rated PG
** ½

This science fiction film is the latest film from Disney with a connection to their theme parks (Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at five Disney theme parks around the world); the film even includes a scene featuring the irritating “It’s a Small World” attraction. We saw the film at an IMAX theatre and found the film visually stunning and creative at times, but the story weak and the overlong film, well, rather boring. The film is directed by Brad Bird, who has a strong resume (Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), and who helped write the screenplay.

As the film starts we are introduced to a young Frank (Thomas Robinson), going to the 1964 World’s Fair with his back pack invention that doesn’t quite work. It is there he meets the freckle-faced Athena (Raffey Cassidy) and Nix (Hugh Laurie from House M.D).

We also meet Casey (Britt Robertson) who lives with her NASA engineer father (Tim McGraw) and younger brother. Casey is constantly told in her classes in school that the world is being polluted, destroyed and slowly ending. She never gets an answer to her question about what can be done about it. One day, she finds a mysterious pin which takes her to a futuristic world. She will eventually meet the adult Frank (George Clooney) and Athena.

A favorite scene (as we just returned from Paris and stood below the Eiffel Tower) was when Casey, Frank and Athena go to Paris and they launch something out of the middle of the Eiffel tower.

The film has messages – about what we are doing to our world (we see a clock counting down to the end of our world and video screens depicting all of the terrible things going on in the world), as well as optimism for a better world. Well, I think it does. After the movie Tammy and I had a good conversation about the film. It just didn’t come together for us.

The film is visually stunning and creative at times, but the story needed to be tightened up. The film was a good 30 minutes too long (I caught myself checking my watch). The film was also surprisingly violent for a PG rating, and there was some minor profanity included, along with the misuse of God’s name.

So like a Disney attraction, you may want to just see the story as supplemental as you enjoy the experience and the ride.