The movie is based on the non-fiction book The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown.
It is directed by George Clooney.
The action takes place throughout 1936 during the Great Depression.
One of the main characters, Joe Rantz (Callum Turner), is struggling to pay his college fees at the University of Washington.
He is living in an old car among many other homeless people and eating at soup kitchens.
His friend, Roger Morris (Sam Strike), suggests they try out for the university’s men’s rowing eight team.
If they make the team they will get a room, board and a part-time job.
They turn up to the trials along with at least 40 others who come from working-class backgrounds.
There they meet the coaching team, led by head coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton), a somewhat crusty man who tells them it is the hardest team sport.
After training, the final rowers are chosen and both Rantz and Morris make the team.
The team start taking part in rowing regattas, which were a popular form of entertainment at the time.
The men compete against other college rowing eights to win a berth to represent the United States at the Berlin Olympics.
Even though they have been selected there is still one more obstacle the US Olympic committee want them to jump.
At the Olympics they are up against the best rowing teams in the world, including the Hungarians, Swiss, Italians and Germans who are the favourite to win the gold medal.
Sometimes the Hollywood version of a story can be a little over the top with patriotic fervour. I did not get that sense from this movie.
It is just a wholesome story of a team who overcame everything stacked against them to perform at the highest level of their sport.
I recommend this movie. It is a cracker.
