A 1930s-set story centered on the University of Washington's rowing team, from their Depression-era beginnings to winning gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.A 1930s-set story centered on the University of Washington's rowing team, from their Depression-era beginnings to winning gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.A 1930s-set story centered on the University of Washington's rowing team, from their Depression-era beginnings to winning gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 2 nominations
Tom Varey
- Johnny White
- (as Thomas Stephen Varey)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPrior to making the film, the actors had no rowing experience. They were given a physio and a trainer to prepare for the physicality of rowing. They trained every day for months, rowing for four hours a day, every day, and then an hour after filming. George Clooney deliberately shot the film in order "so by the time we got to the race in Germany, our kids could stay in the game." The actors' goal was to get to 46 strokes per minute while working on the film, which they achieved, matching the strokes per minute of the original crew in the Olympics.
- GoofsThe newsreel in the movie says Jessie Owens is from the University of Ohio. While there is an Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, he was actually a student at The Ohio State University.
- Quotes
George Pocock: That bunch of kids rowed like no one else who's ever come through here.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Jimmy Kimmel Live!: George Clooney/Kumail Nanjani/Lenny Kravitz (2023)
- SoundtracksUntil Life Turns Your Way Again
Written and Performed by Ian James Donaldson
Courtesy of Black Toast Music
Featured review
Wonderful motion picture, but do read the book!
We waited so long for this movie to be made, ever since Daniel James Brown wrote the story. A serendipitous set of events led to the story even being recorded, as Judy Rantz Willman just happened to have Daniel James Brown as a neighbor, and eventually persuaded Brown to visit her father, who was in hospice care. What he thought was a social visit, she saw as a book about to be written. His initial skepticism evaporated quickly, when Joe began sharing his story. In Joe's remaining couple of months of life, Brown met with Rantz several times to begin creating the outline for the book. He then met with the families of the other crew members, followed by two years of further research, aided by Judy Rantz. The eight were amazing people, accustomed to hardship and personal challenges. For example, when Don Hume's family moved from Anacortes to Olympia, Don tossed his belongings into a rowboat and paddled down Puget Sound to his new home, roughly 100 miles away. Look at a map! A multiple-sport letterman in high school, he had also placed third in a state pianist's competition. And Joe Rantz was such a standout athlete in gymnastics at Roosevelt High School, that Coach Ulbrickson already had his eye on him then. So, what did we miss in the movie? Joe's difficult pre-college life is mostly absent, and worth the read by itself. We also miss Joe's wanderings around Berlin, where he witnesses Germany's horrific treatment of its Jewish population, under its totalitarian leader. Like nearly everything from Hollywood, a bit of romance is thrown in to add spice, but the story shines, throughout the picture. Here and there a bit of drama is added for effect, but personalities presented by the actors conform closely with who they represented. George Pocock really was the sage he seemed in the movie. Don Hume comes across as a bit socially awkward in the movie. A good friend met him several years ago where she worked, and described him as, uh, gruff. The fearless audacity of the team comes through in a story told only in the book. Before sailing to Germany for the Olympics, the team decides to drop in, unannounced, on Franklin Roosevelt at his home. Although they didn't find the president at home, they did spend the evening there. The story behind this movie is too remarkably wonderful to be fiction. See the movie, but by all means read the book!
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- Dec 25, 2023
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $40,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $52,641,306
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $8,400,548
- Dec 31, 2023
- Gross worldwide
- $55,474,757
- Runtime2 hours 3 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39:1
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