True Blue (1996)

Director:

Ferdinand Fairfax

Writers:

Rupert Walters (screenplay)
Daniel Topolski (book) ...

Release Date:

15 November 1996 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Tagline:

To be second is to be last.

Plot:

The story of the year the Oxford and Cambridge boat race changed from a gentleman's race to one where winning was everything. |

Plot Keywords:

Oxford | Boat | Boat Race | University | Rival

Cast

Johan Leysen	...	Daniel Topolski
Dominic West	...	Donald MacDonald
Dylan Baker	...	Michael Suarez, S.J.
Geraldine Somerville	...	Ruth MacDonald
Josh Lucas	...	Dan Warren
Brian McGovern	...	Rick Ross
Noah Huntley	...	Nick Bonham
Edward Atterton	...	Freddy Prideaux-Jones
Ryan Bollman	...	Morrison Black
Andrew Clover	...	Rob Atkins
Jonathan Cake	...	Patrick Conner
Tom Hollander	...	Sam Peterson
Nicholas Rowe	...	David Ball
Patrick Malone	...	Mike Johnson
Alexis Denisof	...	Ed Fox

Also Known As:

Miracle at Oxford (USA) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Norway:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Booker Entertainment

Trivia:

The Cambridge crew in this film were played by members of the rowing squad from Imperial College, London, including several members of the British international squad.

Goofs:

Continuity: The Cambridge crew used "cleaver" blades, which weren't invented for three years after the film was set.

Quotes:

Daniel Topolski: Back to the start, do it again

Soundtrack:

Two Tribes

Pretty to look at, but that's all.

"Aawks-furrd". According to the introductory voice-over, this is where True Blue is set. It seems this was a token attempt not to completely alienate an American audience. For this is a story where poor misguided Oxford rowers draft in wicked Americans to help beat the apparently unstoppable Force Of Nature that is Cambridge University, which has been so unsporting as to actually win the last Boat Race. We are thus drawn into a picturesque but insane world where the motto is "six months' torture for a lifetime's pride". Unfortunately, we have to take part in some of the torture as rowers and coaches bitch at each other about training too much.

If the film could impart some of the ambition and dedication of top athletes to an ideal of winning (as does the book True Blue), then it would be exciting and disturbing. Similarly, if it could give an impression of their personal sacrifices it would remind us of how remarkable the Boat Race actually is in the sport of rowing. Unfortunately, the film falls between the two stools. It fails to show the personal lives of the squad beyond caricatures where bitterness and childish pranks are the norm, and therefore fails to create any sympathy with the characters; yet it also fails to do justice to the sport, showing us actors desperately trying to row as they bat up and down the boat, failing to make any impression on the boat speed except throwing up a lot of water at the camera. Rowing should be a sport that is smooth and beautiful, not rushed and convulsive.

It is only when the film stops using actors and hires real rowers, drops the clunky script (who could forget such lines as "That's unconscionable!"?) and shows us an actual race that the director's skill can come through. He has been spending the rest of the film showing us beautiful but pointless shots of the sun rising over the dreaming spires of Oxford. In this way, the portrayal of the Boat Race itself almost makes up for the excruciating moroseness of the Blue Boat squad that has been flung at us for the last hour.

In the end, if you want to see some nice shots of Oxford, see some well-built rowers in Lycra and hear a pseudo-"Chariots of Fire" soundtrack, you could watch this film. Or you could do a ten-thousand metre work session on a rowing machine, which would be shorter and less painful.