Row, Row, Row with “The Boys in the Boat” Trailer

As a director, George Clooney is obsessed with the past. With the exception of the contemporary The Ides of March and futuristic The Midnight Sky, all of his movies have been set decades ago. He's traveling back nearly a century for his latest turn at the helm.

Based on the best-selling book, The Boys in the Boat tells the story of the University of Washington rowing team and their journey from ragtag nobodies to Olympians. Callum Turner (the Fantastic Beasts franchise) plays Joe Rantz. He's a destitute man who joins up more for the housing than the athletic glory. Joel Edgerton plays the team coach, alongside a solid cast of "that guys." This should earn comparisons to another mild but inspirational sports biopic: Chariots of Fire. But I'm sure Clooney would be just fine with that, since it was nominated for seven Oscars and won Best Picture.

The Boys in the Boat docks in theaters on Christmas Day.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.