The Boys in the Boat

An elderly Joe Rantz watches his grandson rowing a fiberglass boat, thinking back to his glorious rowing days. In 1936, young Joe Rantz is a poor engineering student at the University of Washington (UW), living in an abandoned car and eating canned food, with no job and tuition due in two weeks. Fellow struggling student Roger Morris tells Joe the 8+ rowing team comes with jobs and boarding. Despite not being rowers, they make the UW junior varsity (JV) team in a special year for coach Al Ulbrickson, who is under pressure to beat rival Cal and make the 1936 Olympics. Joe and Roger are just happy to have a dorm room and steady food, and gladly mop floors for tuition. Joe starts dating Joyce and admits to racing-shell builder George Pocock that he’s been on his own since his dad abandoned him at age thirteen.