Don't fret; I will try to keep this movie review brief. But as a conservative Christian American male who has become quite disenfranchised with sports entertainment and much of Hollywood over the past 15 years, the movie The Boys in the Boat, based on a book by the same title, was a breath of fresh air.
This movie was inspiring, and had everything an excellent American sports movie should have! There was an excellent feel of competition. There was a resounding tone of overcoming adversity, and great suspense and tension-building.
There was a lesson of the importance of family, mixed with an individual perspective of growing up without one, yet overcoming that adversity nonetheless. Although I wished there were a touch of faith in the film, I realized it was lacking in that aspect because it just wasn't part of this story. But it really is a story of everything else that was once good about America.
The strongest lesson and theme from the whole movie, in my opinion, was actually a combination of ideas. Hard work and persistence, and unity; the film did such an awesome job at recognizing what once made this country great. Hard work and coming together to function as one unit, is what made the Greatest Generation stand out above all others to this day. Each rower on the 1936 Washington Husky crew team served their individual roles in the boat...but the team functioned as one whole unit, in perfect unison; in a perfect rhythm that led to victory. And that victory never came without cost. Each individual poured their souls into achieving the victories to come. There were no political agendas that brought about any of the success of the team. It was people putting aside differences, working their butts off, and having the common goal of victory in their sites. That was what made a great American crew team. That is what once made America great. The irony on who directed and produced the film might be lost on some viewers...but not this American patriot.
So Bravo, to all those behind this film. It really was well done. Here's to hoping (and praying) that this nation can somehow be a reflection of these great ideals again in the future.
Thanks for reading, and God bless.