Overview: The Boys in the Boat is a sports drama based on the #1 New York Times bestselling non-fiction book written by Daniel James Brown. The film, directed by George Clooney, is about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin.

This inspirational true story follows a group of underdogs at the height of the Great Depression as they are thrust into the spotlight and take on elite rivals from around the world.

Blu-ray Verdict: This inspirational true story follows a group of underdogs at the height of the Great Depression as they are thrust into the spotlight and take on elite rivals from around the world - being a great inspirational account about Team Work, working together in harmony and the triumph of the Human Spirit!

From their Depression-era beginnings to winning gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, this story is also symbolic about the defeat of Nazi Germany and Nazi Austria by the Free World.

Jesse Owens is also part of the film, who was the most successful athlete at the Games and, as a black American man, was credited with single-handedly crushing Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy - being instrumental in showing the German’s and Austrian’s what Triumph of the Will truly means.

I should now reveal that my very own aunt, who was a teenager in Nazi Austria during that time, was also a great fan of Jesse Owens and strongly renounced Nazism, thus contributing in crushing the Nazi leader himself. Like many other honorable people who restored Human Rights and International Law in both Germany and Austria, I am as proud of her as I am of the people that made this film.

In closing, sure, Rowing isn’t the most thrilling sport and yet Director George Clooney’s direction is still able to get more than enough tension and reasonably thrilling moments out of those scenes. Alexandre Desplat’s score is almost hilarious with how old fashioned it is. Anywhere else it would be too much, in my humble opinion, but it’s a gloriously sumptuous natural fit for this film. [M.D.]