George Clooney’s 2023 Box Office Flop Gets a Second Life on Prime Video
It finally gets the recognition it deserves.
Streaming platforms have been both a blessing and a curse for the television and film industries. While the major streamers have changed the format of shows, making them much more expensive to produce but shorter in number of episodes, they have also given a second chance to many movies that didn't perform well enough in theaters.
One of the biggest examples of this is the 2024 spy movie Argylle. Another is 2023's The Boys in the Boat, directed by none other than George Clooney. Here's everything you need to know about the period sports drama that unexpectedly shot to the top of Prime Video.
Is The Boys in the Boat Worth Watching?
Set in 1963, just before the 1936 Summer Olympics, The Boys in the Boat is a sports film that follows a rowing team from the University of Washington. Based on the 2013 book of the same name by Daniel James Brown, this is a story of true determination and success of aspiring sportsmen.
Starring Joel Edgerton as Al Ulbrickson, a rowing coach, and Callum Turner as Joe Rantz, the rower at the center of the story, the film was made on a $40 million budget and was released by Amazon MGM Studios on December 25, 2023. But even the Christmas holidays didn't help the film get off the ground.
The Boys in the Boat only managed to make $55 million at the box office and received mixed reviews from critics. With a score of 57% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the film is praised for its old-school movie vibe, but mostly criticized for the lack of emotion and charisma of the main characters.
Audiences, however, strongly disagree, giving the film a 97% rating, and that number translates into the film's success on Amazon Prime Video. The Boys in the Boat managed to stay at the top of the ratings for a week, from May 30 to June 5, and received many more positive reviews during that time.
So, if you enjoy sports dramas and want to see a movie that is sure to take you back a few decades, The Boys in the Boat is a safe bet. You can contribute to the groundbreaking number of streams by watching the film on Amazon Prime Video.