Summary

• Clooney's latest directorial effort "The Boys in the Boat" has a 97% Rotten Tomatoes audience score but only 57% critic score.
• The disparity between critic and audience reviews reflects a trend in Clooney's directorial career of high audience scores and mixed critical reception.
• Despite the divided reviews, audiences praise the film for its true story, emotional moments, and strong performances.

George Clooney's latest directorial effort The Boys in the Boat has received an outstanding Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%. The celebrated Oscar-winning actor, best known for his iconic leading roles as Danny Ocean in the Ocean's trilogy (2001 - 2007) and Matt King in The Descendants (2011), is also an accomplished director. Clooney made his feature directorial debut with 2002's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind which he starred in alongside Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, and Sam Rockwell. Since then, he has directed a total of nine feature films, including 2023's The Boys in the Boat.

an outstanding cast led by Joel Edgerton (The Gift, The King) and Callum Turner (Masters of the Air).

The Boys In The Boat's Success Is A Reminder Of The Critics/Audience Split On Clooney's Recent Movies

Clooney's recent films have received more praise from audiences than critics

The Boys in the Boat received a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of just 57% based on 158 reviews, continuing a trend among films directed by Clooney that tends to see high audience scores and mixed critical reception.

While The Boys in the Boat has become a streaming hit on Amazon Prime Video and has amassed an impressive 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the Clooney film ultimately received mixed reviews from critics. The Boys in the Boat received a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of just 57% based on 158 reviews, continuing a trend among films directed by Clooney that tends to see high audience scores and mixed critical reception. In fact, it's Clooney's second movie in a row as director to do that following 2021's The Tender Bar, which received RT scores of 51% from critics and 70% from audiences.

The Boys in the Boat's impressive 97% audience score is by far the highest of Clooney's directorial career. 2005's Good Night, and Good Luck, which is often considered the best film that Clooney has ever directed, has an audience score of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes alongside a Certified Fresh critic score of 93%. Apart from 2011's The Ides of March, a political thriller starring Clooney, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Evan Rachel Wood, and Ryan Gosling, all of Clooney's directorial efforts since Good Night, and Good Luck have either received mixed or poor reviews. The lowest among them was 2017's Suburbicon which received equally poor critic (28%) and audience (26%) Rotten Tomatoes scores.

George Clooney Hasn't Directed A Fresh-Rated Movie Since 2011

Clooney did direct two episodes of the celebrated Hulu adaptation of Catch-22 in 2019

It's a noteworthy slump for Clooney as a director since the first three of his four films were all praised by critics.

The Ides of March was the most recent Certified Fresh movie that Clooney has directed, earning a critic score of 83% even though its audience score was lower at 73%. It's somewhat surprising and even a bit concerning that Clooney has yet to direct a film with mostly positive reviews since 2011, considering that he's directed five feature films during that 13-year time span. It should be noted, however, that Clooney did direct two episodes of the Hulu adaptation of Catch-22 in 2019, which received an 84% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. It's a noteworthy slump for Clooney as a director since the first three of his four films were all praised by critics.

The disparity even among the top critic's reviews of The Boys in the Boat is quite uncommon. Owen Gleiberman of Variety writes in his positive review, "“The Boys in the Boat” is a gentleman’s sports movie, with Clooney working hard to make one “like they used to.” He brings it off, even if there’s a lingering quaintness to it all." On the other hand, Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent notes, "The film struggles to rally any concrete idea of what these athletes should mean to us. Supposedly it’s a film about unity... but cares little for the people beyond its perfunctory protagonist." A common complaint among critics was the inaccessibility of the characters.

Why The Boys In The Boats RT Critics & Audience Scores Are So Divided

Audiences enjoyed the classic genre tropes while some critics found them to be hollow

Nowadays, some viewers may find these types of classic movies full of clichés, finding The Boys in the Boat uninteresting because it repeated genre tropes rather than innovating them.

While critics were clearly divided on The Boys in the Boat, audiences held the film in a much higher regard. Many of the comments from casual viewers questioned the mixed critical reception altogether, stating that they loved The Boys in the Boat for its great true story, powerfully emotional moments, scenic cinematography, and strong performances. A common takeaway from the movie from both the critical and the causal sides is that the film is relatively simple, feel-good, and ultimately inspirational. Nowadays, some viewers may find these types of classic movies full of clichés, finding The Boys in the Boat uninteresting because it repeated genre tropes rather than innovating them.