MOVIE REVIEW : ‘BOY IN BLUE’: A RACE TO FINISH LINE WITH SCULLS

“The Boy in Blue” (selected theaters) is such an old-fashioned movie that, after a while, its predictability becomes almost endearing--like a limping white circus elephant from the dead past, when movies failed in a big way.

It’s an ironic-inspirational rags-to-riches biography of a great national hero--in this case, Canadian scull racer Ned Hanlan, an almost unbeatable champion of the last century, who first honed his skills as a bootlegger, eluding police along the shores of Lake Ontario. As Nicolas Cage plays him, Hanlan is a brash, loose-limbed, hot-tempered prole; first a “natural savage,” then--before he breaks loose--a manipulated tool of the swells who control racing.

It’s a painfully obvious success story. Hanlan falls violently for the daughter (Cynthia Dale) of the area’s top manipulator, Col. Alfred Knox (Christopher Plummer). He has a wise old mentor (a Merlin of the sculls, played by Sean Sullivan), and a best buddy who fails him and then, perhaps, redeems himself (David Naughton). He has bullies who taunt him, tyrants who tempt him, snobs whom he levels. As this grimy golden boy races, the gambling is frantic. The sun pours down on the halcyon riverbanks; the crowd cheers and adores him; he shoots past boats like lightning on a pond--and everything climaxes with the Big Race on the river Thames against an arrogant Aussie named Trickett (and some dirty tricks besides).

Hanlan’s still-legendary status in Canada is not odd. Scull racing tends to breed dominating champions (the current ace, Finland’s Pertti Karppinen, has not been defeated in years), and the sport itself is as photogenic as sunlit streams. But somehow “The Boy in Blue,” amiable enough, always feels like an “afternoon” movie--a throwaway, not good enough to plan an evening around. There are too many poor or exaggerated scenes, too little adventurousness of any kind, too many lines that leap to your tongue an instant before the actors say them. It’s pleasant, professional and neutral, a sunny picnic that fades from the memory within hours.

Charles Jarrott may have appeared a decade or two late as a director. He’s a big, ornate roadshow-style director of the ‘50s-’60s David Lean-Robert Wise school, and though he’s credited with one legendary bomb--the musical remake of “Lost Horizon”--there’s something about his unabashed attack on trashy soapers like “The Other Side of Midnight” that can be perversely entertaining. Here, perhaps, his admirable cinematographer--Canadian Pierre Mignot of the Robert Altman team--is too naturalistic for him. Mignot’s images may be too dusty, wistful and diffuse for this kind of glossy, elephantine movie making, which often needs Robert Surtees lighting to drown in.

The actors are variable but mostly good--especially Sean Sullivan and Plummer. And Cage makes Ned--the “natural man” breaking through all the starchy, arch formality--fairly compelling and engaging. Like Sean Penn, Matt Dillon or Emilio Estevez, Cage has developed such presence at such a young age that he occasionally puts you off (particularly when he gapes, stares and gulps), but he can also be fantastic--as in “Birdy” or “The Cotton Club,” though not always here.

Still, the movie never captures the whippet-swift, sunny grace it needs. Its heart may lie with the Ned Hanlans, but somehow it’s the crafty, cold Knoxes who’ve captured its soul.

‘THE BOY IN BLUE’ A 20th Century Fox presentation of an ICC-Denis Heroux-John Kemeny production. Producer John Kemeny. Director Charles Jarrott. Script Douglas Bowie. Executive producer Steven North. Music Roger Webb. Camera Pierre Mignot. Editor Rit Wallis. With Nicolas Cage, Cynthia Dale, Christopher Plummer, David Naughton, Sean Sullivan, Melody Anderson.

Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes.

MPAA rating: R (under 17 requires an accompanying parent or adult guardian).