Heart of Champions (2021) User Reviews

A mixed bag

[FeastMode · 5/10 · 19 February 2022]

The first half if this movie was hitting on all cylinders. I really enjoyed it and thought I was on my way to a great sports flick.

The second half goes in a bunch of unexpected directions. I give it credit for avoiding the usual predictability of this genre. But a lot of it just didn't work for me. And worst of all, after all the great build up in the first half, we barely get a payoff at the end.

Even with the clunky second half, I would have given it a positive score of 6 stars if it wasn't for a couple of unnecessary romance subplots and forced drama.

In the end, I still mostly enjoyed this movie and am glad I gave it a chance. But I can't help but feel disappointed that they weren't able to stick the landing. (1 viewing, 2/19/2022)

Meanders and disappoints

[jljacobi · 5/10 · 24 November 2021]

This could've been a significantly better movie if it stuck with the sports theme, and sprinkled in the young romance and angst. It had potential.

Instead, it wallows in the romantic triangles and travails. It's a good half hour longer than it should be. It's also more than a tad cliched.

On the other hand, it's pretty well acted all the way around, and most of the folks are easy to look at as well as personable.

What really got me about this movie was the ending, or actually the penultimate event. It runs against the grain, and quite frankly, seemed completely unnecessary.

If you've seen nothing of real life, it'll be a tear jerker. If you seen this kind of stuff, you'll wonder what the heck it's doing in this movie that was moving along to a predictable, but satisfying ending.

Note to writers. Shocking your audience, or subverting expectations isn't the same as pleasing them. Satisfying your artistic urges as the expense of viewers enjoying themselves is petty.

Pretty much ruined the whole deal for me.

Starts well but ending let's it down

[robd-50235 · 6/10 · 15 November 2022]

I wanted to like this and for the first 2/3rds of the movie it was quite good. Scenery and cinematography was good, good characters, with different backgrounds. A bit cliched but still worth watching.

Then it went bad. It was like how do we wrap this up quickly and still get a victory out of tragedy. Crap revenge, silly reactions, simple death, but wait let's just replace the two best rowers with non entities and win this one for the team. USA USA USA

I like re-watching films, even mediocre ones but wouldn't watch again. Would have been a 8 but ending dragged it to a 6, and the generosity of the final rating is due to first half of movie. Such a shame.

couldve been an 8

[nim-rod77 · 6/10 · 2 November 2021]

Casting 5/9. Only worthy mention is ofc the old man directing was the weakest part.. romance is forcefed and has no purpose at all.

All in all, enjoyable considering the drought in the boxoffice.

Yes and no

[LekyLekz · 6/10 · 16 November 2022]

Love a sports movie and would watch any that are out there as I found them to be inspirational in many ways. However, I expected a bit more from this movie, mainly because rowing and the cast, particularly Michael Shannon and Alexander Ludwig.

While both delivered a solid performance, the plot was somehow disappointing. It certainly isn't a masterpiece but it is watchable and there are parts in the movie that will take you on an emotional ride. I was hoping to see a better ending or perhaps more of it since it was left up to the viewer to experience it in their head. If you haven't seen the best of Alexander Ludwig, I would highly recommend 'Vikings'.

Disappointing.

[bjornfogh-70246 · 5/10 · 23 November 2021]

Im a sucker for sportsmovies. I was very interested in this movie since I did rowing when I was younger. But the movie just falls flat.

The dynamic between Alex and his father is interesting and the classic story of a team with potential but teamwork issues, works, but the romance seems to be a irrelevant parallel story with no purpose. The end makes absolutely no sense both in terms of character building and realism.

Really wanted to like this movie, but it fails to deliver.

How a coach is able to transform a good rowing team into a great one.

[TxMike · 10 May 2023]

To appreciate why and how this movie came about it helps to know that two of the producers are the Winklevoss twins. They came to fame when they accused Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea for a social network. But they also were rowers at Harvard and both of them (6' 5" identical twins) rowed in the Olympics.

So as this movie, set in 1999, starts we see a team mid-race going good and in first place, poised to beat Harvard for the national championship, then they pretty well fall apart nearing the final furlongs and lose badly.

A few months later, a new school year, Michael Shannon as Coach Murphy has been hired. He was a member of the school's championship team back in the late 1960s, he has seen war time military duty, he is a no-nonsense task master. But he recognizes that while the team has ample talent, they don't work well enough as a team when it counts.

So much of the movie is Coach doing things to get his boys to work better together, to find the natural leader, to beat Harvard, to win the National Championship. In addition there are several side stories, one involving a pushy dad who wants his own boy to shine so he will be picked for the Olympics. Plus several involving romantic relationships among the students.

One of the fun facts for us is the college scenes were shot at LSU, where my wife went to college. Other shooting locations were in East Baton Rouge and several other nearby locations.

All-in-all we both found it to be a worthwhile movie. Not everything gelled, one story line in particular between two of the rowers bothered both of us, but the real message here is to find yourself as you grow into adult life and you are never alone, you have to involve others in your contact sphere to accomplish things.

At home, on DVD from our public library.

Crew is Cutthroat

[jeroduptown · 6/10 · 24 June 2022]

Who knew rowing could be so dramatic. Throwback 90s era where a college row team is full of young men trying to find their way in life. Thematically solid and promotes team values that are rare today.

Bad ending ruins it

[deroestorf · 4/10 · 3 June 2023]

The movie started off strong, have some of the usual sub plots, romance twists you would expect. Really what you want too see in a uplifting movie.

The came the last bit, and the film.falls to pieces, one of the characters that showed the most growth gets destroyed for no good reason, another something happens too another one, and then there is the last part which is just completely implausible. Really ruined everything in the movie.

What a waste of time. It falls into a classic trap of trying to destroy something but not succeeding in making it feel realistic or at all even make the character seem bad.

Romance almost beats out this decent story....

[PerryAtTheMovies · 6/10 · 7 September 2022]

6.5/10

Not as inspirationally motivating as I would have hoped for. There was too much young adult romance, but what else should I expect from a film based on college/university ages. However, the story still gets a good message across of how you need to work together as a team to achieve a bigger goal than just yourself.

The acting wasn't terrible. A little cheesy at times, but I really enjoyed Michael Shannon in this one. His performance felt the strongest, but he's also been around longer than most in this film. However, a few of the rowers who had prominent supporting parts were enjoyable.

The biggest killer to this film was how the score overpowered what was happening on screen. My meaning to this is that I got more motivated and excited by the score, but became bored by what I was seeing. However, a stronger scored worked for a few scenes, especially the ones that threw me for a loop that I certainly wasn't expecting.

Overall, the only thing I can say about this film, truly, is that if it's come across your mind to watch it, then you should watch it. It's not terrible, but it's not great. It's a little over ok.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review. Until next time.... Enjoy the show!

shannon keeps it afloat

[ferguson-6 · 5/10 · 31 October 2021]

Greetings again from the darkness. We've seen most of this before in a long list of inspirational sports stories where the beleaguered, tough as nails coach comes in and unites a rag-tag team while teaching life lessons. However, with (2-time Oscar nominee) Michael Shannon cast as the coach, we know there will be at least one performance worth watching. The screenplay is from Vojin Gjaja and it's directed by Michael Mailer (son of 2-time Pulitzer Prize winning author, Norman Mailer).

The film opens in May 1999 as a crew team finishes last in the Collegiate Rowing Championships. Inner-team bickering and animosity exists thanks to domineering Team Captain Alex (Alexander Ludwig, "Vikings"). The following year, the team is introduced to their new coach, Coach Murphy (Shannon). He has a different approach and he's focused on creating a team, rather than a few guys with oars. All we really learn about Murphy is that he's an alum and former rower for this same college, and an Army and Vietnam veteran who lost friends in the war, and carries that burden with him every day.

Alex (Ludwig) is back for his senior year and his goal is to be chosen for the Olympics team ... a goal his over-bearing father (David James Elliott, "JAG") reminds him of every few minutes. The other two crew members who get significant screen time are John (Alex MacNicoll, ALL ROADS TO PEARLA, 2019) and newcomer Chris (Charles Melton, THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR, 2019). John is dating Alex's ex-girlfriend Sara (Ash Santos), while transfer student Chris is dealing with a recent tragedy, and also attracted to Sara's friend Nisha (Lilly Krug, EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE, 2021). And yes, at times the melodrama of these folks is just a bit too heavy-handed and soap opera-ish. Coach Murphy is clearly the most interesting character, yet the film spends the bulk of its time on the youngsters and their daily journey.

One of the plusses here is that the sport at the center is rowing, which at least veers from the typical sports fare. But then we learn very little about the sport, other than it blisters your hands and causes your lungs to burn ... and there is "swing" which occurs when the team is in full sync. Mr. Shannon does as much with his underwritten role as possible; however, overall the movie is just a bit too generic with its final lesson of, "a loss is not the end." Should you have an interest in a true life rowing story, allow me to recommend the 2013 book, "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics" by Daniel James Brown Opened October 29, 2021.

Row as a team

[matchettj · 8/10 · 23 December 2021]

Sports movies seem to have a formula. Team not performing as it should, new coach comes in who inspires, someone trying to undermine the team, a traumatic event the team must overcome. So it is with this one but somehow it all works for me. Michael Shannon as the coach stands out even though the main focus is not on him, but liked other characters as well and their stories. Certainly deserving of a higher rating than what it has on IMDB.

As formulaic as they come. Plus 1999?

[fhvjrkb · 3/10 · 14 July 2022]

As far as sports movies go, you know the recipe. Team fails. Team has one member over-the-top with attitude and funded by rich daddy to achieve his own very personal goals. One could-be leader waiting in the wings. An outsider who joins late, shrouded in mystery. The coach who arrives and brings tough love and salvation. Team unites through myriad personal and collective struggles.

Add to this mix the absolutely ridiculous fact that the movie is supposedly in 1999 but the clothes, cars and settings are all decidedly 2021... this movie is a sheer disappointment. If you wanted a good drinking game, take a drink per predictable trope. Caveat: it'd be easy to end up with alcohol poisoning.

Scull-duggery Of The Worse Sort

[zardoz-13 · 5/10 · 11 February 2022]

The best scenes in director Michael Mailer's underdog Ivy League collegiate rowing drama "Heart of Champions," starring Michael Shannon, focus on the spartan training sequences. Like a dysfunctional family drama, where all squabbles are eventually resolved to everybody's satisfaction, sports movies chronicle a coach's herculean efforts to forge unity among bickering athletes and fuse them into a winning team. Watching quasi-villainous actor Michael Shannon as the heroic coach struggle to defuse infighting between teammates while stoking their competitive spirit is the most entertaining aspect of this opus. Sadly, after the coach convinces his two top scullers to set aside their enmity, he finds himself in hot water with an irate father who argues that his son is poised to forfeit a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make the Olympic rowing team.

"Heart of Champions" could have been an unforgettable, feel-good sports yarn had it confined itself to the trials and tribulations of the team. Unfortunately, Mailer and rookie scenarist Vokin Gjaja, a former collegiate sculler himself, pad out the running time with the team's amorous adventures. Incredibly, the tragic outcome of one jealous rivalry virtually tanks the team and erodes Coach Murphy's authority. Edd Lukas's agile widescreen cinematography adds a sense of spectacle to the brawny rowing scenes, especially when his drone cameras capture the scullers from on high in stunning long shots.

This coming-of-age sports drama lurches off to a promising start. The year is 1999. A struggling Ivy League college-Beeston University-grabs an impressive early lead against an aggressive line-up of competitors at the National Collegiate Rowing Championship. Just when it seems like they are poised to cream their age-old rival Harvard, the Beeston boys squander their lead and finish last! The university fires the coach and hires an alumnus, middle-aged Jack Murphy (Mike Shannon of "Man of Steel"), to rehab Beeston's lackluster rowing program. Of course, Murphy realizes this task is easier said than done, and he rocks the boat that nobody wants rocked. Murphy's longtime friend, Mike Singleton (David James Elliott of "Trumbo"), landed Jack the job and hopes his influence will benefit his ambitious son, Alex (Alexander Ludwig of "The Hunger Games"), who dreams about rowing in the Olympics.

Predictably, Murphy refuses to coddle Alex. He knows he can turn the team around but not with Alex at the helm. Naturally, tempers flare when Murphy alters the line-up, and John (Alex MacNicoll of "The Rising Hawk") becomes the new captain. John has his teammates practice wearing blindfolds and it enhances both their speed and timing. Were this not annoying enough, John wins over Alex's girlfriend Sara (Lilly Krug of "Every Breath You Take"), which spawns even greater acrimony in Alex's jaundiced eyes. Meantime, under Murphy's brusque boot camp coaching and John's captaincy, the Beeston rowing team shapes up. Although Murphy succeeds in turning around a floundering program, neither Mike nor Alex are sympathetic to the cause. Mike threatens to replace Jack if he doesn't reinstate Alex as team captain. Nevertheless, University President Jack Harris (Lance E. Nichols of "Contraband") intervenes on Jack's behalf and warns Mike the alumni have raised questions about his decision.

"Heart of Champions" boasts a sterling cast. Gimlet-eyed Michael Shannon dominates every scene with his hypnotic presence. He reminisces about his dark past in the Vietnam war and wrestles with survivor's guilt. Sometimes, not even the good guys can buck a stacked deck. You'll love to hate Alexander Ludwig as Alex, a flaxen-haired, over-privileged, pretty boy prima donna. He is twice as treacherous as his devious dad. Watch how Alex sabotages John and Sara's future. As starry-eyed John, Alex MacNicoll bristles with 'born yesterday' naivety. MacNicoll brings so much integrity and good will to the team you sense his breakdown is ordained. As a scholarship transfer student, Charles Melton of "Riverdale" steps up at the last moment to salvage the team. No stranger to adversity, he lost both his parents and his girlfriend in a tragic auto accident when they were driving to see him row. The lachrymose relationship between Chris and Nish (Ash Santos of "Joe Bell") amounts to a histrionic, four-handkerchief weepathon. Ultimately, the team vindicates Coach Murphy, but Mailer's film ends without Sara confronting Alex about his duplicity.

For the record, this predictable, 119-minute, PG-13 rated potboiler was lensed on location at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge back in November and December of 2019. Sophomore director Michael Mailer creates considerable gusto during the team's muscular rowing scenes that impart vibrance to the action. Nevertheless, when our scullers ship oars and set foot on dry land, "Heart of Champions" convulses into cardiac arrest from too many soapy subplots and never recovers its momentum.

This is a 50/50 movie

[steeleronaldr · 5/10 · 27 February 2022]

First off I love training movies due to the excitement of watching a dead end team Excell and beat all the odds. Michael Shannon is in fine firm despite a weak role. Alexander Ludwig plays the part of privileged kid to the hilt. The problem is despite two great lead's are uninteresting characters and storylines that totally off balance the movie. A rowing team fails on their last competition and a new coach (Shannon) is hired to turn the team around. What he sees isn't a winning formula but a bunch of guys working against each other. As the coach works to get them to work as a team he ruffles a few feathers in doing so.

If the writer's would have focused on the main topic instead of adding subplots that didn't add to the main story this movie could have been better. What we get is a 50% good movie followed by a 50% mess. None of the characters or in this case actors had chemistry which does show. None of the actors really had the talent to pull this story off and again it shows finally the writer's failed to feature the rowing actors evenly favoring 3 of the 9 which shows.

Now the first half moves along and doesn't feel like an hour passed, the second half drag's and adds more to the plot than needed. Even Alexander Ludwig starts to get on the nerves, I've seen him in "The Hunger Game's" and the new "Witch Mountain" and in this one it seemed as if it were too much for him to handle. The only good thing about this is Michael Shannon and his performance but he struggles himself to achieve on a weak role.

Awful. Like, so bad.

[sj_80 · 2/10 · 8 November 2022]

Seemed like it might have promise, like other sporting films...The Replacements, We Are Marshall, Friday Night Lights... but in reality it was just another goody goody college film focused on too much romance and drinking and not much rowing. Too many different storylines (dedicated boyfriend & girlfriend, assumed cheating girlfriend with pushy team mate, arrogant controlling father, love interest with accent, heartbroken sport dude with trauma, wounded but strong coach, in fighting within the team) omg far too much and just ruined the film all together. I tapped out after the first 25 min. Will never watch again.

"Leadership is measured in the hearts of the followers"

[jeffreycoufal · 8/10 · 22 November 2021]

This movie brings together stories of college students who face and overcome interior struggles and stresses of life and learn the valuable lessons that no man is an island and that sometimes you have to depend on the team and sometimes the team has to depend on you. They deal with death, loss, family pressure, and peer pressure while learning that they need others and others need them on a sports team and in life.

Really poor attempt at a heart warming sports drama

[daneder-40496 · 3/10 · 13 September 2023]

This is a very formulaic film, and I should have known that going in (I didn't, because it's the first 'rowing movie' I'd ever heard of, thought this may have a different spin). Of course, it has to be interspersed with college-kid drama, love, and ridiculous set-up situations (girl hates boy, boy is a hurt soul, girl loves boy madly, ad nausea, replete with the requisite steamy snowing scenes, steamy raining scenes, etc.).

Michael Shannon is usually always great, but he was very stiff here, which for me, rendered him a less believable character. The other actors did a good job; Ludwig is a real rising star for sure, the other boys mostly forgettable and the girls, ugh; pure annoyance.

But for me, the big letdown here is the end. Naturally, a sports film pits the lowly underdogs against the revered and unbeatable favorites. No spoilers here, but the most ridiculous thing happens during the final showdown that could not possibly make a difference to the outcome of the race, and yet it does, big time. It is SO absolutely stupid that you immediately feel insulted for having your intelligence assailed. For me, this movie went from a 6 to a 2, but I'll compromise at 3 for Ludwig and the guy who played his father performances.

You're not ready for the water!

[mluinstra · 5/10 · 5 October 2022]

This movie is just okay, but that's about it.

Nothing we haven't seen before. Some of the dialog is hilarious. It's hard trying to make Rowing into some exhilarating, action-packed sport.

It's the usual in-fighting with the row team, and the egos get in the way. Then the new coach shows up and teaches them "teamwork" and putting the team ahead of personal goals, etc.

Eventually, they buy into it and good things happen. The end.

The film is fine but nothing special. As I mentioned, it's all been done before. Still, if you don't have anything else to watch, this will kill some time.

They needed 9 more characters so here is some extra text.

Shannon's flop

[alatlantic · 3/10 · 25 December 2023]

I only watched this movie because Michael Shannon is in it, and while not my favorite actor, the movies he's in are usually worth watching. This is the first one of his I've seen that I wish I'd skipped.

It starts as a movie about crew, and a new coach, and getting better. I thought it was going to be a sports movie. Somewhere around halfway through, for no reason, it turns into some poorly written teen drama. It was like watching a Lifetime movie, and I completely lost interest.

I'm not sure what happened, or why a movie like this was made or who it's even for. I'd skip it, there's not much redeeming here.

Remember the Titans, but way worse

[mathewsmarchand · 2/10 · 7 June 2022]

Honestly, this movie was trash. The storyline has been done a million times and there wasn't one single original aspect to the plot. The cinematography was basic, the love story was basic, the bully to humble followed was basic, the heartbreaking twist was basic. Nothing about this movie was original. I watched it because I like two of the actors, hoping something new or original would pop up, but this was genuinely terrible

Pathetic excuse for a movie.

Michael Shannon!!

[rallyboyz-50082 · 10/10 · 20 November 2021]

I really liked it, even if other reviews have wide variation in reactions. Michael Shannon is perfect for his role and delivers another stellar performance. There is some young adult melodrama, but it all works for me. One critic wrote the movie "lacks a brain" and yet when I think about the story I find some layers to it that are meaningful.

Typical elite 'life lessons' drivel

[jeffdstockton · 4/10 · 6 July 2022]

This hits on all the 'rich white kid life lessons' clichés, without, I think, intending to. There is a token ethnic teammate, and one or a couple of other token ethnic secondary characters. No doubt, this suffers from elitist assumptions held by the writer, director, producers, or all involved, without them coming close to realizing it.

Embarrassingly, the coach - sorry: "Coach" - is a military veteran with a tough background, and he's gonna bring some tough-guy-with-a-heart magic to inspire this ragtag bunch of rich kids (whose privilege is ignored thoughout the movie).

EVERY plot device is foreseeable from the title alone. The filmmakers miss on details throughout; e.g. Kid puts his shoe in his mouth when he apologizes to his teammate, and we notice that this is 100% brand new, never been worn, with perfectly tied shoe laces (white Addidas, of course), then slips it back on his foot as though he'd been wearing it.

There were no opportunities to really act, skillfully, so the bunch of 'em say their lines, exaggerate emotion, hit their marks, etc.

This is a waste of time. I eventually switched over to a 4 year old episode of something on HGTV, just to get away from the straining futility of this movie.

Great movie!

[joeandtyke · 24 July 2022]

I've never posted a review but felt I had to with this movie! This movie is not about a losing rowing team. This was a great movie all about how it is to work as a team with a lot of sage "quotes" as takeaway lessons. Yes the boys' acting at times was a little lame but seriously the messages sent overpowered this. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The teen romance storyline was a little sappy however that is what brings the whole storyline together at the end. Great movie. In fact my workplace could learn lessons about team building with this movie. The only reason I didn't give it a 10 was the acting at times. Otherwise it was a 10.

One of the most depressing movies

[colonelwelch · 1/10 · 15 October 2022]

Spoiler alert ! All the makings of a good underdog sports story complete with leadership lessons and maturing of young athletes. Was very strong at first but came completely apart near the end when a main player does something horrible that was out of character even for a complete jerk. Then everyone else does the exact wrong thing though there was some recovery eventually. I don't recommend unless you enjoy serious downers. I will say the acting is strong though the writing is iffy. Would have liked to know a bit more of the characters backgrounds to better understand the motivations. Sadly lacking for some key individuals.