This BBC docudrama is set in postwar London, a time and place where money was so tight that the 1948 Olympics came to be known as the Austerity Games. The narrative focuses on Richard "Dickie" Burnell (Sam Hoare), an upper-crust journalist and council worker, and Bert Bushnell (Matt Smith), a working-class office clerk—two oarsmen who join together to compete for the gold in double sculls. Their first meeting—arranged by their trainer, Olympic champion Jack Beresford (James Frain)—goes poorly, but the pair will need to cooperate if they hope to make their mark, and they only have six weeks to accomplish that goal. As Jack warns the argumentative duo, "You don't win if you don't pull together!" Bert is particularly hostile towards Dickie about his Eton-and-Oxford education, and both men have meddling fathers, John Bushnell (Douglas Hodge) and Charles Burnell (Geoffrey Palmer). John, a boat builder who missed his shot at Olympic glory, even pressures his son's girlfriend to leave town for a spell, so that Bert can concentrate on the competition. Once the rowers put their differences aside, however, they come up with a game plan, but injuries and other obstructions threaten to block their way. Going for Gold interweaves their story with the backroom meetings of the Olympics planners who managed to pull off a world-class event with a minimum of capital. Although rather predictable, the cast is solid and the period details shine in this historical sports film. Recommended. (K. Fennessy)
Going for Gold: The '48 Games
BBC, 90 min., not rated, DVD: $19.98 Volume 27, Issue 6
Going for Gold: The '48 Games
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