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.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.
A Major Disappointment
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
It isn't Hollywood, thank goodness. Cage is just a baby and still fresh looking incredibly fit. Not quite so today! Some great talent for sure. The story is basically true and Ned Hanlan was an arrogant hot head who proved to the world what a professional champion could do. He was undefeated and took on the world. Reports of the time did say, the more clothes he took off, the bigger he looked. He was a rascal who sometimes toyed with his competition. I love the local color, including the Segwun, the oldest operating commercial screw steamship in North America. Book your tickets today! I loved the scene showing the scull. A beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Some of the race scenes are definitely a bit lame. The pace of the rowing is like a walk in the park and it certainly feels staged. Hanlan's Point in Toronto is famous and infamous! Rowing is a magnificent sport. It combines incredible fitness, cutting edge technology and a fierce will to win.
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.
I saw this in a theatre out of pure curiosity back in 1986. The ads gave no indication what this was about--it just showed Nicolas Cage with his shirt off showing his VERY nice chest. It was a dull true story of Ned Hanlan who was a world class sculler--or something like that. It takes place in the 19th century (the ads didn't mention that either) and I usually hate period pieces--that didn't help me like the movie more. The only good thing about this was Cage--he WAS good and his body looked fantastic. But, unless you're interested in sculling, you'll probably be bored silly.There was one unintentionally hilarious scene in which Cage tries to rip open a woman's shirt--and it wouldn't rip! He fumbles with it before he finally gets it off. The audience I saw it with was laughing hysterically.