A refrain often heard at regattas and amongst collegiate rowers is how powerful and all-consuming the sport can be. That can, of course, be a negative thing in many ways. Rowers wake up at the crack of dawn, wear down their bodies and crack the skin on their hands every day for a shot at a few minutes of glory in a career that, for most people who’ve ever stepped foot in a boat, will end at age 21 or 22. It’s an obsession and occasionally a dangerous one, an angle that Lauren Hadaway took in her 2021 rowing thriller, The Novice.
But on the flip side, that level of commitment to one common goal often lends crew teams a rare sense of fellowship, camaraderie, and unconditional belonging that’s hard to find elsewhere. That’s the experience of Joe Rantz, the protagonist of George Clooney’s upcoming The Boys In The Boat (based on Daniel James Brown’s 2013 book of the same name), which tells the true story of an underdog team of rowers who went on to claim gold for the United States at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
In an exclusive clip shared with The A.V. Club, Rantz (Callum Turner) asks his coach (Joel Edgerton) for his seat back after a disagreement saw him swapped out for the team’s alternate at a pivotal moment in his career.
When Coach Ulbrickson asks Rantz why he wants back in, Rantz responds: “All that time I spent in it. The work we all did together. That boat... it’s all I got.” He goes on to say “the boys,” but trails off, again reiterating, “it’s all I got.” (Don’t worry, no cringey title drops here.)
The Boys In The Boat also stars Peter Guinness, Sam Strike, Thomas Elms, and Jack Mulhern. The film premieres December 17 in theaters.