Already successful as an actor, George Clooney took on the director’s hat for 2002’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. With 2023’s The Boys in the Boat, we get Clooney’s ninth theatrical effort behind the camera.

Set in 1936, Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) studies engineering at the University of Washington. He struggles with finances so he takes a slot on the school’s rowing team when he finds out it comes with a job attached.

Under Coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton), the squad prospers and qualifies for the Summer Olympics in Berlin. There they deal with the usual competitive factors as well as challenges connected to Hitler’s reign.

For the most part, stories about the 1936 Olympics focus on one subject: track and field star Jesse Owens. The tale of a Black athlete who beat the “superior” Germans in front of Hitler became – and remains – an irresistible saga.

Though Owens overshadows everything else from the 1936 games, clearly other worthwhile narratives exist. The question revolves around whether or not the Washington rowers offer one of those compelling tales.

Maybe? While completely professional and watchable, Clooney never finds a way to bring a film that does anything new or fresh.

Not that I’d call Boys chock full of clichés. Nonetheless, it does follow a fairly well-trodden path and it lacks choices that allow it to stand out from the pack.

Perhaps Clooney did so intentionally. Perhaps he went the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” path and figured that the standard “inspirational sports story” structure remained sturdy enough that he didn’t need to tamper with it.

I can’t really argue with that, but the problem with Boys stems from its inability to really rouse the audience. Everything feels so perfunctory that it becomes difficult to muster much emotion.

This means fairly flat characters who go through the usual motions in terms of stories about athletic underdogs. Boys doesn’t feel predictable because we know the history – it comes across that way because we know the genre.

Again, Clooney stages all of this in a professional manner and he hits the usual beats. To some degree, I appreciate that he doesn’t work overtime to pull emotional heartstrings.

Though I admit I kind of wished he did so at times. While not devoid of spirit, Boys can feel too subdued and without the rousing impact we expect from this kind of tale.

In the end, I can’t find anything truly wrong with Boys, but I also can’t locate anything about it that makes it especially involving or memorable. It delivers a competent underdog story that just never connects in any real way.

The Boys in the Boat appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into a terrific visual presentation.

Sharpness always satisfied. Virtually no softness materialized along the way, so expect a tight image.

Neither moiré effects nor jagged edges became an issue, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws also failed to turn into a concern.

Colors leaned toward a subdued and “nostalgic” sense of amber/orange and teal. The image kept these choices low-key and well-rendered.

Blacks felt deep and dense, while shadows appeared smooth and concise. The movie offered a top-notch picture.

Did a character piece like Boys need a Dolby Atmos soundtrack? Not really, but downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the mix worked pretty well.

Unsurprisingly, general environmental information dominated. This created a nice sense of place, albeit one without a lot of ambition.

Still, we got a good feel for the settings, and the track delivered a fine connection to the locations. Unsurprisingly, athletic competitions filled the spectrum the best, but I still couldn’t claim the mix ever felt especially memorable.

Audio quality worked fine. Speech seemed natural and concise, without edginess or other issues.

Music offered nice range and lushness, while effects delivered appealing accuracy and punch. Again, this never turned into a sizzling track, but it worked well for the material.

No extras of any sort appear on the disc.

With The Boys in the Boat, George Clooney directs a well-meaning and perfectly adequate sports underdog story. That said, I can’t find anything here that allows the film to rise above the crowd, as it seems competent but never especially memorable. The Blu-ray comes with excellent visuals and appropriate audio but it lacks bonus materials. While Boys delivers a watchable affair, it lacks real spark or creativity.