The Boy in Blue (1986)
Ned Hanlan was Canada's most successful sculling champion at the turn of the 20th century. This dramatization of his life begins in his youth, when the wild young man is informally adopted by a gambler who promotes Ned on the sculling circuit, betting on the boy's rowing skills solely to make money off him. Later, a ruthless businessman named Knox takes over Ned's career, but when Ned realizes how dishonest Knox is, he finds another manager. Walter is an inventor and the first honest man Ned has dealt with in his career and, under Walter's guidance, Ned rises to great success in the sculling world.
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Just what I expected
best movie i've ever seen.
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
Nicholas Cage plays Canadian rowing champion, Ned Hanlan, from his humble beginnings rowing illegal liquor across the border, to his championship race in England. The problem is, you've seen it all before. Pick any boxing, baseball, or football film, and you will be on very familiar ground with "The Boy in Blue". In addition, Cage's romance of Cynthia Dale comes across as really sappy and uninteresting. The movie plays like a series of Victorian postcards. Even usually reliable villain, Christopher Plummer, is no more ruthless than a puppy dog. This movie is way too predictable, toothless, and sugar coated, and does not live up to expectations. - MERK
I am actually IN this movie (I was an extra in the racing scenes - that's me in a tan dress with a parasol, listening to the band play, and again up on a lock gate, watching the racers - and my father and brother were extras in it too, my dad played a nineteenth-century bookie!), so I would really like to be able to give it an excellent review. I have to be honest, though - the script is pretty bad, Nicolas Cage had very little to work with here, Christopher Plummer is wasted, and even the racing scenes are cut badly so they're not very exciting. It was much more fun to film than it is to watch - I'd say only seek out this one if you're a big Nicolas Cage fan and are intent on seeing every film in which he's acted.
Warning - Spoilers The Boy in Blue is a representation of the life of Ned Hanlen - a rowing champion during the late 19th century. Learning his craft as a whiskey runner Ned moves into the world of high stakes rowing (popular during the era) and through love and emotional growth becomes a champion.While well done for a period piece the life of Ned Hanlen, as told in The Boy in Blue, does not represent a story compelling enough to carry an entire movie. Interesting in it's technical details (I've done a small amount of rowing and thought the sport was well captured) the amount of drama in Mr. Hanlen's life just does not rise to the level needed to make the movie consistently interesting.David Naughton plays the sleazy manager/promoter (with the requisite Heart of Gold); Christopher Plummer plays the sleazy backer/gambler (no Heart of Gold) and Cynthia Dale plays the love interest. While mildly interesting the attempts at sabotage, thuggery and skulduggery just don't add up to a "movies worth" of a story.
Unless you like movies about rowing, this movie is a little slow. The only thing this film has in common with Chariots of Fire is the fact that its a period piece. The film is predictable even if you never heard of Ned Hanlan. It's a little "sappy" at times. The acting is a bit over the top and wooden with little chemistry felt between Cage and Dale. SPOILER The training scene for the race on the Thames looked like it was stolen from one of the "Rocky" films but without the speed bag. If you like to be bored to tears or need a non-narcotic to fall asleep this would be a good film for you. ** out of *****