George Clooney doesn’t really seem all that interested in acting these days. He’s actually much more invested in directing.
Deadline had originally reported that Clooney’s “The Boys in the Boat” had received such high test screening scores that MGM decided to give it a coveted awards-bait release date on Christmas Day.
The studio, I understand, were ecstatic over the test scores and landed on the pic’s release date in an effort to grab families.
It hasn’t appeared at any of the fall festivals, not even AFI which is where Clooney’s last directorial effort (“The Tender Bar”) was launched, to tepid reactions. Not even a trailer has been released. What gives? Not many people know this film even exists.
“The Boys in the Boat” is based on Daniel James Brown’s non-fiction bestseller about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team who competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. This is definite Oscar-bait.
The cast includes Joel Edgerton, Chris Diamantopoulos, Callum Turner, Jack Mulhern, Sam Strike, Luke Slattery, Thomas Elms, Tom Varey, Bruce Herbelin-Earle, Wil Coban, James Wolk, Hadley Robinson, and Courtney Henggeler.
Filming on the film took place in March 2022.
I liked Clooney’s earlier films as a director (“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” “Good Night and Good Luck,” “The Ides of March”), but, as of late, he’s been struggling behind the camera with such duds as “Leatherheads,” “Suburbicon,” “The Monument’s Men,” “The Midnight Sky” and “Tender Bar.”