sailboat boy movie

A Boy Called Sailboat

By Bobby LePire | January 15, 2019

A Boy Called Sailboat follows the life of young Sailboat (Julian Atocani Sanchez) who lives in the southwest of the United States with his imposing but lovable dad José (Noel Gugliemi) and sweet-natured cook of a mom Meyo (Elizabeth De Razzo). Meyo does not leave the family’s wooden house, for fear of ridicule from others about her size. Said house slants and is held up only by a wooden beam buried into the ground.

Sailboat and his best friend Peeti (Keanu Wilson) play on their school’s soccer team; though Peeti is the waterboy, as he is unable to blink and must water his eyes every few minutes. When not at school, Sailboat hangs out at the local used car lot, run by Ernest (J.K. Simmons). Ernest does not mind the company and, in fact, practices his sales pitches on the boy. At the lot sits a sailboat, which Sailboat wants to own one day.

One day, Sailboat comes across a little guitar in excellent condition. While visiting his sick grandmother Abuela (Rusalia Benavidez) in the big city, she requests that Sailboat plays a song for her. Since he does not know any, he promises to write her one and perform it on his next visit. Sailboat reaches deep within himself and finds the perfect song. When he plays the song for his teacher, Mr. Bing (Jake Busey), and the rest of the class after a field trip, it moves everyone to their very core. As word of Sailboat’s amazing song spreads, people flock to his house to hear it, setting off a chain of events that changes everyone’s lives forever.

A Boy Called Sailboat , written and directed by Cameron Nugent, is narrated by Sailboat himself, but not as an older man looking back; instead as the child. This is where Nugent’s masterful screenplay reveals its true depths. Sailboat describes that the old mailman once told his mom that she “should stop cooking all those meatballs as she’s a meatball” herself. The kid goes on to explain that his dad’s genial smile stopped and he got “that look on his face,” so now his family has a new postal worker.

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Simmons appears on Marvel’s Spiderman movies.. As Jonah J. Jameson… Owner of the Daily bugle… 🤣😎

Outstanding review. You captured this movie perfectly. We stumbled onto it last night on HBO and were simply charmed. It is a remarkable, yet important little movie and you did it justice. Thank you.

I was lucky enough to see this a short time ago in Silver City, NM where it was filmed. The person who made the film and all the kids from it were there for discussion/ Q&A afterward. When the movie began all I could think was boring. Very soon after that, I was pleasantly surprised. It turned into a very enjoyable, entertaining and funny movie.

I just don’t see the point of the boy’s song for his abuela when it is never sung.

I am so excited to see this movie! When will it start showing in Texas?

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A Boy Called Sailboat Reviews

... charming tale about family, culture, and inclusion.

Full Review | Original Score: 15/20 | Apr 2, 2021

A Boy Called Sailboat is never less than likable, but a little more variance in its beats might have prevented it from settling into a well-worn groove of unrelenting whimsy.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 24, 2019

There are several aspects of it that I did thoroughly enjoy, notably the picturesque cinematography, the script and the children.

Full Review | May 29, 2019

It's a special kind of film that can rely on children to drive its story and maintain its charm, but A Boy Called Sailboat pulls it off, evading some of the pitfalls of the quirky indie comedy to deliver something truly wonderful.

Full Review | Feb 1, 2019

A Boy Called Sailboat is an astonishingly assured debut narrative film, managing to be heartwarming but not overly cloying, visually striking without seeming like a formal exercise, thoughtful but probably not too complicated for kids to understand.

Full Review | Jan 31, 2019

In the end, A Boy Called Sailboat inflicts a forced sense of whimsy that never feels rightfully portrayed or right as is.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 28, 2019

A Boy Called Sailboat is a reminder of a moment of pure innocence that can give us the opportunity to reconcile with ourselves and others. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jan 24, 2019

Adorable, nearly-perfect modern folktale, save for one grating and unfortunate miscalculation on the director's part.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 24, 2019

A Boy Called Sailboat is an odd and unique film.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 19, 2019

Nugent proves himself to be a master of meaningful whimsy.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 14, 2019

A wee fable whose ability to charm will be in direct correlation to one's default cynicism setting.

Full Review | Original Score: 70/100 | Jan 14, 2019

...an inept magical realist story infused with a tone-deaf sense of humor and a vague sense of thematic direction.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Jan 14, 2019

Modest fairy tale set in the New Mexico desert is simultaneously affecting and disappointing, with superior work from its very young cast.

Full Review | Jan 10, 2019

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A Boy Called Sailboat (2018)

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A Hispanic family find hope in their extraordinary son named Sailboat when a personal gesture awakens a global desire. Armed with a "little guitar", Sailboat leads an offbeat cast into the miraculous story of the greatest secret never told.

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A Boy Called Sailboat

A Hispanic family find hope in their extraordinary son named Sailboat when a personal gesture awakens a global desire. Armed with a “little guitar,” Sailboat leads an offbeat cast into the miraculous story of the greatest secret never told.

Dove Review

Here is a unique movie with an unusual plot, a young boy called Sailboat (Julian Atocani Sanchez) finds a small guitar and, after learning how to play, eventually plays a song that unites many people.

Sailboat lives with his mom and dad in a small shack-like house outside of town. Times have been tough, and Sailboat’s dad has a long wooden stick attached to the side of the house, to keep it from falling over! They have a few close calls, especially in one scene when the stick is knocked down.

They are a loving family and go to visit Sailboat’s “ abuela ,” his grandmother, who is in the hospital and very ill. She asks Sailboat to write a song for her, and this begins his journey of writing a memorable song that will eventually be played on the radio, and it will be listened to by a large group of people standing outside of his house. The look of bliss on their faces attest to the fact that it is an amazing song. But we only see the “results” of his song, we never actually hear it ourselves, which leaves us very curious. Why was this song so touching and universal?

J.K. Simmons appears in the film as Ernest, a man who goes out to the deserted area near Sailboat’s home to do a car, truck, and van commercial! Simmons is always interesting to watch. However, there is a sexual innuendo in a scene where he is practicing before the commercial is shot. He refers to the comfort of his vehicle, and says it can be “boy on girl, or girl on girl, or boy on boy,” and so parents should be cautioned about this scene. And there are two scenes in which Sailboat’s dad briefly pats his wife on her rear, and then a later scene in which she does the same to him.

The idea of loyalty is nicely featured in the movie. Sailboat’s dad, Jose, is attentive to his family’s needs. Sailboat is mocked by classmates, and he is called “Rowboat.” And when a boy picks on Sailboat at school, and cuts his guitar strings, Jose goes to the boy’s home, and has his dad go with them all to a music store to replace the strings. He is an intimidating figure. And, when the dad gets out of the car, back at their home, Jose threatens the boy. He tells him he once broke someone’s neck when he was a boy. He tells the boy he wants him to smile at Sailboat at school from now on. In a humorous scene, we see the boy smile a giant smile at Sailboat, while continuing to walk down the hall with his friends. He’s afraid to talk to Sailboat, but he sure can smile!

One of the touching scenes of the film is when Sailboat goes to the hospital to play the song he’s written for his grandmother. The idea of creativity is also a theme of the movie, with Jose painting a beautiful painting of a horse, and eventually getting one to ride.

There are enough humorous scenes to keep a good balance between some of the sad moments of the film, such as the grandmother’s declining health. In one scene, some wood ants have been chewing on the stick holding up the house. So, a pest control man comes out to help, wearing a hat that says, “Simply the Pest.”

Due to its themes of family loyalty, and going after a dream, the film has procured our Dove seal for Ages 12+. But we caution parents to look over the content listing to make their own informed decisions.

The Dove Take

This movie shows that even a child can make a difference in people’s lives, and that dreams are worth going for!

Dove Rating Details

An image of Jesus on the cross is seen in a boy’s bedroom.

A husband and wife pat each other on the rear; a man talks about “boy on girl”, and “girl on girl” and “boy on boy” in practicing to do a commercial about his vehicles, but nothing else is added.

“Hot as H”; “He*luva car”.

A boy cuts a boy’s guitar strings; a man tells a kid he once broke someone’s neck when he was a boy.

A bar is seen from the outside.

More Information

Film information, dove content.

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A Boy Called Sailboat

A family finds hope in their extraordinary son named Sailboat when a personal gesture awakens a global desire. Armed with a “little guitar,” Sailboat leads and offbeat cast into the miraculous story of the greatest secret never told

Cast:  J.K. Simmons , Jake Busey, Noel Gugliemi

1h 32min  |  2018  |  Comedy, Drama Director Cameron Nugent

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The Boys in the Boat

A 1930s-set story centered on the University of Washington's rowing team, from their Depression-era beginnings. A 1930s-set story centered on the University of Washington's rowing team, from their Depression-era beginnings. A 1930s-set story centered on the University of Washington's rowing team, from their Depression-era beginnings.

• George Clooney
• Daniel James Brown
• Mark L. Smith
• Joel Edgerton
• Callum Turner
• Peter Guinness
• 193 User reviews
• 97 Critic reviews
• 54 Metascore
• 2 wins & 3 nominations

Top cast 99+

• Coach Al Ulbrickson

• George Pocock

• Roger Morris

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• Jim McMillin

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• Coach Tom Bolles

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• Hazel Ulbrickson

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• Trivia In a scene during the Olympics, there is mention of Ran Laurie in the British boat. Ran Laurie was the father of actor Hugh Laurie .
• Goofs The newsreel in the movie says Jesse Owens is from the University of Ohio. While there is an Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, he was actually a student at The Ohio State University --- so named in 1878, well before 1936.

George Pocock : That bunch of kids rowed like no one else who's ever come through here.

• Connections Featured in Jimmy Kimmel Live!: George Clooney/Kumail Nanjani/Lenny Kravitz (2023)
• Soundtracks Until Life Turns Your Way Again Written and Performed by Ian James Donaldson Courtesy of Black Toast Music

User reviews 193

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• December 25, 2023 (United States)
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• Cleveland Lakes Nature Reserve, Ashton Keynes, Swindon, Wiltshire, England, UK (University of Washington Boathouse, Berlin Olympics)
• Tempesta Films
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• Dec 31, 2023
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Product Description

A small family finds hope in their extraordinary son named Sailboat when a personal gesture awakens a global desire. Armed with a "little guitar," Sailboat leads an offbeat cast into the miraculous story of the greatest secret never told.

Product details

• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.4 ounces
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ B07KM2RL7D
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Widescreen
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 32 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ February 5, 2019
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Jake Busey, J.K. Simmons, Noel Gugliemi, Lew Temple, Bernard Curry
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Itn Sales, Inc
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07KM2RL7D
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• #12,694 in Drama DVDs

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Customers find the movie sweet, unique, and cute. They appreciate the excellent acting and family value.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the movie sweet, unique, and cute. They also say the characters are endearing, uplifting, and candid. Readers mention the story is sweet, genuine, and worth watching.

"... Worth a watch by anybody that is an appreciater of films, it's a must see for kids to grannies, this one has something for everyone" Read more

"A truly excellent film ." Read more

" One of the most original movies I’ve seen in a long time. Fun and simple...." Read more

"This is a very unique movie . If you are in to action-packed thrillers with lots of special effects, this movie is NOT for you...." Read more

Customers find the acting excellent and endearing. They also say the characters are joyful.

"...in this one, every actor nailed his or her role and made you believe in the character ...." Read more

"...The acting is excellent. Some of the acting is very subtle , in one scene eye movement alone tells you what is happening...." Read more

"Such a sweet movie. Love the characters . They are so endearing." Read more

"This was a cute indie film that I really enjoyed. Sailboat is a joyful character ." Read more

Customers find the movie wonderful for the entire family.

"Very Enjoyable story. Good for the entire family ...." Read more

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• Entertainment
• The Story Behind <i>The Boys in the Boat</i>

The Story Behind The Boys in the Boat

The Boys in the Boat , a film about the University of Washington rowing team’s inspiring journey to winning a gold medal at the Berlin Olympics in 1936, comes to theaters on Dec. 25. Directed by Oscar winner George Clooney , the movie is all about the challenges that the young men faced trying to row and go to school in the middle of the Great Depression .

The film is based on Daniel James Brown’s bestselling book by the same name. To write the book, Brown spent time with the rowers who were still alive, especially Joe Rantz, who is played by Callum Turner and whose love story is depicted in the new film. In the conversation below, Brown talks with TIME about what parts of the movie are based on real history and what the team members went on to do in life after their big win.

How did you first learn about this topic?

I was having a homeowner's association meeting in my house, and one of my neighbors came up to me after the meeting and said, “Hey, I'm reading one of your earlier books to my dad, and he's really enjoying it. Would you come down to our house and meet him?” The next day I met this elderly gentleman Joe Rantz, who was, at that point, under hospice care, stretched out in a recliner and on oxygen, but he was very alert mentally. Then he started talking about how he started rowing on his university's crew team, and how ultimately he and his crew mates had wound up going to Berlin in 1936 and rowing against Italian and German boats in front of Hitler and won a gold medal.

I was just blown away. I said, “Joe, I think I could write a book about you.” And he said, “No, you can't write a book about me, but you could write a book about the boat.” And I didn't know what he meant at first, and I realized he meant the guys who had rowed with him. It was very important to him that the book not be about one individual, but what they had all done together.

Let’s talk about the personal hardships Joe faced growing up. His relationship with his father is tense in the movie. What happened between them? 

His birth mother died when he was three or four, and he was abandoned by his father and his stepmother as a teen. His stepmother treated him pretty abusively, and unfortunately, his father didn't really stand up for him. Joe came home from school one day and found the car was packed up and his stepmother and father and his half brother were in the car. And they said goodbye and drove away and left Joe just standing there, basically. I remember interviewing his half brother and asking him why that had happened, and there were tears in his eyes. He shook his head, “I don't know why we had to leave Joe behind.”

In the movie, Joe is depicted going to class by day, eating out of a soup kitchen by night, and living in a shelter while going to school. How accurate is that? 

He certainly used soup kitchens. Often on dates, he and Joyce, his girlfriend, would just have soda crackers and a can of tomato soup. Dates were very simple—a picnic or just hanging out in the student cafeteria.

The relationship between Joe and Joyce is so sweet in the movie. Are there any other memorable moments in their courtship you can share?

Yeah, I thought they captured that well in the movie. There are a few things I remember. When Joe proposed to Joyce, they were in a meadow someplace hunting for four-leaf clovers. And Joe said, “I got one!” and walked over to Joyce. She said, “let me see it,” and he opened his hand and in it was an engagement ring instead of a four-leaf clover.

Were the other rowers on Washington’s team in the same financial position as Joe?

These were the sons of loggers, dairy farmers, and fishermen—very Northwest kinds of kids. Virtually all of the guys that wound up in that boat were lower-middle class/working class and oftentimes unemployed. As long as they were in a boat, the university would give them a part time job. For Joe and a lot of the other boys that he rowed with, staying on the team was a way of staying in school.

You've talked before about how Don Hume—the rower who fell ill during the Olympics in the movie—was susceptible to respiratory illnesses because he worked in a pulp mill as a kid.

Yes, his lungs were damaged by the fumes in his pulp mill. And he came down with some kind of respiratory illness just before the Olympics and was not in peak condition by any means. Washington’s Coach Ulbrickson put him in the boat at the very last minute, basically only because the other boys went to him and demanded it. They weren’t going to row if Don wasn't in the boat. 

How did the Depression factor into this story? How did it shape the team?

The reason the rowers were all poor was basically the Depression . Their families were having a hard time making a living and the students had a hard time getting enough money to get through school.

The other reason that the Depression is important is because the whole country was looking for positive things to pull people together. When these kind of rugged farm kids showed up on the rowing scene and were rowing against elite schools on the East Coast, in particular, that was very appealing to a majority of Americans because it became an underdog story, in addition to a class story. And when they went overseas, they had to row against the British boats, kids from Oxford and Cambridge who had pretty much grown up rowing. The Depression amplified the differences between those who had and those who did not have.

In the 2016 PBS documentary you appeared in, The Boys of ‘36, I love the story you told about how there was a national championship in Poughkeepsie, and the boys tried to go to meet President Roosevelt in nearby Hyde Park.

Before a big race in Poughkeepsie, they realized that Hyde Park was just a couple miles up the river, where President Roosevelt lived a good deal of time. So they went up river and got out of the boat and tramped through the woods trying to find the Roosevelt estate. Finally, they did find it and just walked up and knocked on the door to see if the President was in. He was in D.C., but one of his sons invited them in, who was a rower. So they sat down in the President's sitting room at Hyde Park and had a nice chat about rowing, and then they were off again.

How would you describe the significance of the Washington rowing team’s win at the Olympics?

American prestige was on the line. The other thing is, for these particular guys coming from the rural Northwest, Seattle was hardly on the map in many ways. It was basically thought of as a logging town out there in the woods, in the Northwest someplace. The gold medal win by that team really helped put Seattle on the map in a way that, in some cases, it hadn't been before.

What was going on in Nazi Germany at the time of the ‘36 Olympics?

Dachau was already under construction. It hadn't become a death camp yet, but tens of thousands of people were already enslaved at Dachau. Hitler and the Nazi leaders took all of the anti semitic publications off the streets before the athletes and the American and international press arrived. They concealed the places where Stars of David had been written on the sides of businesses to identify them as Jewish. Hitler was using the ‘36 Olympics as this massive propaganda tool to conceal what he was actually doing in Germany. There was this enormous effort to sanitize Berlin and conceal what was happening there. It was very effective. Most Americans came back from the ‘36 games came back [to the U.S.] thinking, “wow, Germany's a clean, modern nation. Everything’s really efficient.” It was a huge propaganda coup for the Nazis.

Was Hitler really watching the Washington rowers race as the movie shows?

Absolutely. It wasn't just Hitler ; all of the top Nazis were standing on a balcony of a stone boathouse right at the finish line. In fact, when I went to Germany to see the place for myself, the caretaker of the property let me stand up there on that balcony so I could see the vantage point from which Hitler had watched the race. So yes, he was there. He watched all of the races, and he had been congratulating the winning crews up to that point, but he didn't congratulate the American crew.

To what extent did you interact with George Clooney during the making of the movie?

I had very little to do with the development of the movie. The script was written by a screenwriter, as it should be. Clooney did call me shortly after he signed on to direct, and we had a really good conversation. It was very clear right away that he did not only read the book, but he really got it. He already understood, as I mentioned earlier, the spirit of this story. He talked about how he himself grew up relatively poor in Kentucky and had to scrape for jobs to get through school. So he felt this empathy with Joe Rantz, in particular, but all those boys because he had actually come from a somewhat similar background.

What happened to the boys after they graduated?

They all survived the war years. Most of them did not actually wind up serving in the military during the war. They were a little older than the usual draftees at that point. The ones with engineering degrees were put to work designing and building aircraft for the war effort. Joe married Joyce and went to work for Boeing as an engineer. They all went on to have good, solid middle-class lives. Aside from one who died early, a smoker, the rest of them all lived into their 80s or 90s. They had reunion rows every few years until they were quite old men and had to be helped into the boats. Every 10 years or so, they’d do a reunion row out of Lake Washington. And then they’d have informal reunions at one another's backyard picnics and things like that. The families were all in touch with each other. It was very touching. What was remarkable to me, as I met the family members of all of the rowers, was how bonded together they were for the rest of their lives.

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The Boys in the Boat: release date, trailer, cast, plot and everything we know about the George Clooney movie

George Clooney directs The Boys in the Boat, based on a true underdog sports story.

The underdog sports drama is a beloved movie genre, with its latest entry being The Boys in the Boat directed by George Clooney. This based-on-a-true-story tale is set to be one of the last new movies of 2023 that audiences are going to get a chance to see.

The Boys in the Boat is based on a New York Times bestselling book from Daniel James Brown and focuses on a sport that hasn't been in many movies before, rowing. But there are many classic movies that tell inspiring stories of less heralded sports, like Breaking Away (cycling), Searching for Bobby Fischer (chess) and Cool Runnings (bobsled). The Boys in the Boat will try to do the same for rowing with its inspiring story of a team overcoming many obstacles.

Here is everything you need to know about The Boys in the Boat .

The Boys in the Boat release date

The Boys in the Boat is a Christmas present for movie fans, as it premieres exclusively in movie theaters on December 25 in the US. It is going to release in the UK on January 12.

The Boys in the Boat plot

Based on Brown's non-fiction novel of the same name, here is the official synopsis for The Boys in the Boat :

" The Boys in the Boat is a sports drama based on the #1 New York Times bestselling non-fiction novel 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."

The script was written by Mark L. Smith.

Brown's book was previously used as a source for a PBS documentary, The Boys of '36 , which is available to watch on the PBS website, on Prime Video with the PBS Documentaries channel or via digital on-demand.

The Boys in the Boat cast

Headlining The Boys in the Boat cast is Joel Edgerton. The Australian actor first broke came on the radar of mainstream audiences when he appears as Uncle Owen in the Stars Wars prequels (a role he'd reprise for Obi-Wan Kenobi ), but has since starred in Warrior , The Great Gatsby , Loving , Boy Erased , The Green Knight , Thirteen Lives and Master Gardener .

Another name that audiences may recognized is Callum Turner, who has starred in War & Peace , The Fantastic Beasts franchise and Emma .

Here is who else you can expect to see in The Boys in the Boat and whole they are playing:

• Joel Edgerton as Al Ulbrickson
• Callum Turner as Joe Rantz
• Hadley Robinson ( Winning Time ) as Joyce Sidmar
• Sam Strike ( EastEnders ) as Roger Morris
• Thomas Elms ( Skymed ) as Chuck Day
• Joel Phillimore ( The Bay ) as Gordy Adam
• Tom Varey ( Fifteen Love ) as Johnny White
• Wil Coban ( Origin ) as Jim McMillan
• Bruce Herbelin-Earle (Free Rein) as Shorty Hunt
• Jack Mulhern ( Mare of Easttown ) as Don Hume
• Luke Slattery ( New Amsterdam ) as Bobby Moch
• Chris Diamantopoulos ( Mrs. Davis ) as Royal Brougham
• James Wolk ( Ordinary Joe ) as Coach Bolles

The Boys in the Boat trailer

MGM has released the official trailer for The Boys in the Boat , previewing the inspiring true sports story. Watch it directly below:

Also check out the behind-the-scenes feature right here:

You can also see a sneak peek of the movie with these special clips:

The Boys in the Boat reviews

The review for The Boys in the Boat are coming in. While publications like The Hollywood Reporter and Variety gave the move a "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes , overall it is rated as "Rotten" (as of December 15) with an overall score of 46%.

George Clooney movies

George Clooney is known to most for his acting roles, but the Oscar-winning actor has actually been just as active behind the camera in recent years, both as a producer and a director. Here is the list of movies that Clooney has directed so far in his career: 

• Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
• Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)
• Leatherheads (2008)
• The Ides of March (2011)
• The Monuments Men (2014)
• Suburbicon (2017)
• The Midnight Sky (2020)
• The Tender Bar (2021)

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Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca , Moulin Rouge! , Silence of the Lambs , Children of Men , One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars . On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd .

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20 Best Sailing Movies of all Time

If you have been looking forward to curling up on the couch, grabbing a bowl of popcorn, and watching some captivating movies, this can be a good time. A good sailing movie can be perfect given that you'll hear a few lines that you're already familiar with when on the dock or setting sail.

This can be a perfect time to binge-watch some of the best sailing movies.

So in no particular order, we'll highlight 20 of the best sailing movies of all time. From the brutal and dramatic tales of man vs. sea to inspirational explorations and expeditions, we've covered it all. Keep reading and you'll be inspired while waiting to get off dry land when it's safe to do so.

Table of contents

All is Lost (2013)

For lone sailors, All is Lost is probably the best movie to give you a glimpse of what might go wrong for you if you decide to sail the big blue ocean alone. With a near-mute performance as an old man who loves sailing alone, Robert Redford puts in an almost quasi-silent performance by portraying the ordeal of what a lone sailor can undergo when the sea turns on you.

Directed by JC Chandor, there's only one person on the screen throughout the film. He's all alone in the vast sea with his damaged boat. He has to become tough, resourceful, and calm even when things turn against him. Single-character movies are a rarity even today but this is a great survival film that perfectly depicts what could happen even to the hardest lone sailors out there.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

Directed by the talented Peter Weir, this critically-acclaimed movie was nominated for 10 Oscars and won for best cinematography and sound editing. Depicting the return of the high-seas adventure, this movie is skillfully and meticulously adapted from the historical novel by Patrick O'Brian set during the Napoleonic Wars and starring Russell Crowe.

Crowe plays an arrogant captain who pushes his ship crew to the limits while trying to capture a French warship. This movie offers action-packed battle scenes that will keep you on the edge of your seat. This movie gives you an insight of what sailors undergo in their struggles to make it through the high-seas alive.

Captain Ron (1992)

With little sailing experience but with an inherited yacht moored on an offshore island Martin Short hires charismatic Captain Ron to take them back to Florida. The voyage isn't as easy as they expected as they have to face pirates, breakdowns, and other obstacles. They all get more than what they bargained for.

Portrayed by Kurt Russell, Captain Ron depicts the misadventures of a nominal sailing character that is hired by an upper-middle-class father to guide a yacht through the Caribbean. From the marine accidents, pirates, guerilla carnivals to malfunctioning equipment, and Russell's croaked absurdities, this movie is just full of double humor and worthy performance. 

Wind (1992)

As one of the biggest races in competitive sailing, America's Cup is often associated with rich people competing in weird-looking boats. But this movie changes this as it takes viewers through the eyes of tanned and rugged Will Parker as played by Matthew Modine. He's hired by a self-made millionaire (Cliff Robertson) to lead his crew in the competition.

Together with his girlfriend Kate who is an equally skilled sailor, Parker intends to win America's Cup but Kate is thrown off the crew leaving Parker angry. When the crew loses America's Cup to the Australians, Parker decides to form his own syndicate to win back the cup. 

White Squall (1996)

This movie follows a young man's adventure movie that follows a group of high school students who boards the brigantine ship called Albatross for their senior year at sea. They sail to the tip of South America and back. They get to accept responsibility, learn how to be sailors, and grow up.

The skipper of the ship, Christopher Sheldon together with the 13 teenage boys set sail for an eight-month voyage. The boys soon discover Sheldon's psyche gradations, rattling tension, and freak storms that sink the ship. As a sailor, you'll be disturbed by the fact that four students and two crew members drown, leaving skipper Sheldon facing a fierce tribunal, tortured conscience, and grieving parents and students.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

As one of the greatest epic movies of the 1960s, English Captain Bligh is on a sea voyage to transport breadfruit from England to Jamaica. He is so abusive that he gets on the nerves of his crew members, especially 1st Lieutenant, Fletcher Christian.

Tension eases when they reach Jamaica and the crew indulges in the island's lifestyle but the captain claps some members of his crew in irons as they try to desert. Further abuses lead Fletcher to inspire a mutiny against the Captain. Fletcher and his men set the Captain and his loyal members afloat in a rowboat. This movie offers a realistic depiction of a larger-than-life character that most sailors are known for. 

Dead Calm (1989)

Starring Billy Zane, Nicole Kidman, Sam Neil, and a gorgeous 60 ft. ketch, Dead Calm revolves around a mass-murderer who kidnaps and seduces a young beautiful woman after leaving a husband to die on a vessel whose crew he has just murdered.

This movie was filmed in the Whitsundays Islands of Australia, which is one of the best sailing destinations in the world. Bringing forth an epic combination of deadly sailing conditions , complete isolation from the rest of the world, and a skillful villain aboard the vessel, this movie is thrilling and will leave you looking behind your back whenever you're out there on the sea.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

This adventure-comedy follows the high journeys of Steve Zissou, a character adaptation of French oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. It follows his ocean expedition when tracking the ‘jaguar shark' that apparently ate his partner, Esteban.

Esteban had been working with Zissou on a documentary about mysterious circumstances by a shark. This is a sharp film with lots of fun and adventure on the sea.

Kon-Tiki (2012)

Legendary Norwegian explorer and ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl believes that the South Sea Islands were originally colonized by South Americans. Thor, who fears water and doesn't know how to swim, partakes on a voyage in 1947 to prove his belief. Together with five crew members, set sail from Peru on a balsa-wood ancient raft.

Even though their only modern equipment is a radio, they have to navigate through the ocean while relying on stars and ocean currents and they achieve the impossible after exhausting three months at the sea. This is a very spirited adventure that depicts what's possible when we believe in our dreams. 

Maidentrip (2013)

A 14-year-old sailor by the name Laura Dekker sets sail on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to become the world's youngest sailor. Laura sets out from Holland and sails throughout the world. Apart from the occasional foul language that Laura uses now and then on the documentary, this is an excellent film that shows what one can achieve when he/she lives her dream and works hard towards achieving it.

The documentary, however, doesn't suggest that Laura is alarmingly young to sail across the unforgiving Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Instead, she's depicted as an independent outsider who is looking for paradise in a never-ending sea. 

Adrift (2018)

In most cases, sailors seem to never anticipate that they may sail directly into a catastrophic hurricane and this is exactly what Richard Sharp and Tami Oldham do when they sail directly in one of the worst hurricanes ever recorded in history.

Tami awakes in the aftermath of the hurricane to find their boat in ruins and Richard is badly injured. And because they do not have any hope that they would ever get help or get rescued, Tami is left with two options: sit there and perish or find strength and determination to save herself as well as the only man she's ever loved.

Turning Tide (En Solitaire) (2013)

In this daring tale, this movie portrays how a fearless sailor known as Yann Kermadec finds a lot of obstacles in his biggest race as a two-hander named Turning Tide falls flat. In a nail-biting tension, the story begins when Kermadec replaces the main skipper in the Vendee Globe on short notice.

After some smooth sailing, things go eerily wrong for the sailor as his ship is damaged and he's forced to anchor off the Canary Islands to repair it. When he gets back on his journey, he soon discovers that a Mauritanian teenage boy has sneaked inside the boat and he has no option but to sail with him at least until they cross the Atlantic Ocean.

The Old Man and the Sea (1958)

An old Cuban angler known as Spencer Tracy is so unlucky that he hasn't caught any fish in 84 days. And despite the commitment of a young boy to bring him food, the angler fears that he's forever lucky but catches a small fish on his 85th day, so he decides to keep fishing.

When one of his many fishing lines hooks a large marlin, he decides not to go back to the shore until he reels it in. For almost two days and nights, he has no choice but to sit there and do everything he can to redeem himself from what seems like a perpetual failure.

Morning Light (2008)

By entering the TRANSPAC, which is one of the world's best open-ocean competitions, 15 young men and women prepare for a sailing adventure of their lives. With world-class teachers, these sailors begin intense training in Hawaii but only reach a climax in an elimination process that comes in the form of who-stays-and-who-goes process.

This documentary follows these sailors for six months as they embark on a 2,300-mile sailing ordeal, which starts in Los Angeles and ends in Honolulu.

The Perfect Storm (2000)

Created by Wolfgang Petersen, The Perfect Storm is a blockbuster that's big on visuals and depicts an action-packed escapade on the water as Captain Billy Tyne and his crew set on a fishing expedition aboard a ship known as Andrea Gail.

They're soon caught up in a catastrophic destructive storm when they decide to risk the storm and have to deal with a very powerful hurricane. At the height of their fishing expedition, their ice machine breaks down and the only way to ensure that their catch doesn't go stale is by hurrying back to the shore to sell their catch. This is exactly why they decide to risk their lives and it doesn't turn out as they expected.

Captain Phillips (2013)

When Captain Richard Phillips takes command of an unarmed container ship known as MV Maersk Alabama from the port of Salalah in Oman, they anticipate that they'll be attacked by Somali Pirates on their way to Mombasa, Kenya.

They attack the ship and Captain Phillips has to use his wits and diplomacy to negotiate with the pirates and save his crew. 

Maiden (2018)

As the saying goes; what a man can do a woman can do even better. This is exactly what's depicted by this sailing movie that follows the life of Tracy Edwards as she leads the first all-female crew when competing in the Whitbread Round the World Race.

Covering 33,000 miles and lasting for nine months, this is a truly grueling race that depicts the corrosive sexism that still exists in the sailing world as well as the ocean terrors that sailors have to deal with during voyages or competitions. 

Chasing Bubbles (2016)

This is a captivating documentary that follows the journey of Alex Rust who is a free spirit who gives the normal life to sail around the world. Alex is brought up as a farm boy but becomes a stock trader in Indiana. At the age of 25, he decides to abandon his life in Chicago, buys a modest sailboat known as Bubbles and embarks on a very unique free-spirited voyage. It takes him three years to sail around the world and to quench his insatiable curiosity while meeting great people and fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a free soul.

This is a breathtaking travelogue that depicts the sailing life of a truly absorbing character.

180° South (2010)

Directed by Chris Malloy, this is a sailing documentary that covers the journey of Jeff Johnson as he travels from Ventura, California to Patagonia in Chile. He does this to retrace the same trip covered by Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins in 1968.

While the two initial explorers made the journey on the land, Johnson travels by sea using a small boat.

Deep Water (2006)

This movie follows the true-life story of Donald Crowhurst, an inexperienced British sailor who enters the Golden Globe, which is the first nonstop boat race in the world. Donald puts up his home as collateral to gain financial backing to compete in the race but soon finds himself on the wrong end of things as he enters the race under-prepared.

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Daniel Wade

I've personally had thousands of questions about sailing and sailboats over the years. As I learn and experience sailing, and the community, I share the answers that work and make sense to me, here on Life of Sailing.

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