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The Boys in the Boat is an American sports film directed and produced by George Clooney. It chronicles the rags-to-riches story of the University of Washington's rowing team and its inspirational journey of winning the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics. The film stars Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner, Jack Mulhern, Ian McElhinney, and Hadley Robinson in titular roles.
The movie hit theaters on December 25, 2023. Mark L. Smith wrote the screenplay, which was adapted from Daniel James Brown's 2013 book titled The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. While translating the narrative from book to screen, several changes had to be made to fit the film’s two-hour runtime.
The Boys in the Boat: Exploring the key differences between actual events and their depiction in the film
1) The Boys in the Boat was not shot on location in Seattle
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A sizable portion of the film's narrative was set at the University of Washington. However, the scenes were not shot at the actual college campus in Seattle. As the story took place close to 90 years ago, the college premises and its UW Shell House looked quite different in 2023.
The film's team traveled to England to shoot the sequences and had to rebuild the entire campus. Director George Clooney told The Seattle Times in December 2023 that there were multiple reasons to have a replica. The first one was that the city had developed significantly since the 1930s.
“This is not a big-budget film, and so for us to be able to shoot, we needed a place that had rivers and reservoirs. A place with space to build the boathouse again and to shoot around it,” George Clooney added.
Read more: Is The Boys in the Boat based on a true story?
2) The timeline of the rowing team's journey was shortened in the film
According to real-life accounts, it took Joe Rantz (played by Callum Turner) and his teammates almost three years (from 1933 until 1936) to go from forming the men's rowing team at the University of Washington to competing in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
In the film version, all of this was compressed into a single year: 1936. The movie only focused on the team's training leading up to their Olympic journey and left out other crucial races that they competed in between those years due to time constraints.
3) Joe Rantz's difficult childhood was left out of the film
As the book recounts, Rantz grew up very poor and faced financial hardships most of his childhood. At 15, he was abandoned by his father and stepmother and was left to fend for himself during the Great Depression. He singlehandedly put himself through school and worked hard to attend the University of Washington.
Meanwhile, when Joe Rantz first appeared in the film, he was already 19 years old. His backstory and childhood hardships were not explored more in detail.
4) The Berkeley coach did not financially support the team
In real life, the University of Washington's rowing team started a fundraising drive to collect enough money for their trip to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. They successfully raised $5,000 (slightly over $100,000 in 2024) in around 48 hours.
In a heartwarming moment, the coach of the rival Berkeley team from the University of California offered moral support to the underestimated Washington team as they were headed to compete in the 1936 Olympics.
On the contrary, the biopic film depicted the Berkeley team’s coach making a $300 (almost $7000 in 2024) donation to help the team reach its fundraising target. However, it did not happen in real life.
Read more: Where was The Boys in the Boat filmed?
5) The boys came close to meeting President Roosevelt in real life
The biographical film left out an exciting real-life incident wherein the boys tried to meet President Roosevelt before an upcoming race in Poughkeepsie. The book's author, Daniel James Brown, detailed his experience in a December 2023 interview with Time Magazine:
"Before a big race in Poughkeepsie, they realized that Hyde Park was just a couple miles up the river, where President Roosevelt lived a good deal of time. So they went up river and got out of the boat and tramped through the woods trying to find the Roosevelt estate."
Brown continued:
"Finally, they did find it and just walked up and knocked on the door to see if the President was in. He was in D.C., but one of his sons invited them in, who was a rower. So they sat down in the President's sitting room at Hyde Park and had a nice chat about rowing, and then they were off again."
6) The race's winner was not decided in a photo finish
The men's eight final at the 1936 Olympics was closely contested between the American, Italian, and German teams in real life. The race was a nail-biter till the very end and the American team was announced as winners after a lengthy deliberation between the judges.
The film, however, showcased the winning moment in a photo finish for dramatic effect. The athletes and spectators were shown holding their breaths in the film until the photographer processed the negative (it was 1936) to reveal the race's winner.
Read more: 5 Chace Crawford movies and shows to catch if you like him as The Deep in The Boys
The Boys in the Boat is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
