The Boys in the Boat is a 2023 American biographical sports drama film produced and directed by George Clooney from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith, based on the 2013 book by Daniel James Brown.

In 1936, Joe Rantz is a poor engineering student at the University of Washington (UW), living in an abandoned car and eating canned food, with no job and tuition fees due in two weeks.

Despite not being rowers, they make the UW junior varsity (JV) team in a special year for coach Al Ulbrickson, who is under pressure to beat rival Cal and compete for the 1936 Olympics.

Joe starts dating Joyce, a classmate, and admits to racing-shell builder George Pocock that he's been on his own since his father abandoned him at age fourteen.

Ahead of the four-mile Poughkeepsie Regatta in New York, for a berth in the Olympics, Al risks his job by promoting the JVs above his experienced varsity boat.

Bobby starts at 28 and holds it past mid-race, then coaxes 36, with a 40-stroke finish to lead ragtag UW to upset Navy, Cal, and the other privileged schools.

Al protests about the lane assignments, but realizes he'll have calm water at the end, so he calls for a fast start to stay close to the German team, with a big kick to finish.

In March 2011, The Weinstein Company preemptively acquired the film adaptation rights to the book by Daniel James Brown with Kenneth Branagh set to direct and Donna Gigliotti and Judy Hofflund producing.

[12] Principal photography began in March 2022,[18] and was due to take place at Winnersh Film Studios in Berkshire, as well as in Los Angeles and Berlin.

[29] In the United States and Canada, The Boys in the Boat was released alongside Ferrari and The Color Purple, and was projected to gross $2–3 million from 2,557 theaters on its first day.

"[35] Bilge Ebiri of Vulture called the film "an unshowy but slick underdog sports picture, fluidly told and elegantly mounted.

"[36] The Messenger's Jordan Hoffman gave the film a score of 6.2/10, writing, "'It's a bit old fashioned' is the primary takeaway most have from The Boys in the Boat, and what that really means is low-stakes, relaxing and predictable, but also basically good.

"[38] The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw gave the film 2/5 stars, writing, "Clooney is capable of putting much more on the scoreboard; this feels like an animatronic museum display.