Heartwarming / The Boys in the Boat

• The boys getting Don to play piano at their post-race victory party is sweet and a sign of their pride in Don's musical skills even if Don does look like a deer in the headlights when he realizes what they're about to do and has to be literally dragged and pushed up to the piano.
• Joyce kept a goodbye card that Joe made for her when they were children all the way until she was a college student in the slim hope that one day they would meet again.
• When their travel funding is revoked, UW starts up a donation drive to raise the $5000 needed to send the team to Berlin. Donations come pouring in from all over Washington state, and mention is made of the boys' hometowns (such as Sequim, Joe's hometown), pooling donations. Keep in mind that this is taking place during the Great Depression, and any kind of donation would have been a major financial hardship for everyday people.
  • Joe's estranged father donates as well; despite previously telling Joe that they were effectively no longer father and son, he still cared enough to want to help.
  • Several hours before their deadline to produce the money, the team is still $300 short. Ky Ebright, coach for the Cal Bears and Ulbrickson's main rival for most of the movie until now, gives Ulbrickson a check for the remainder and tells him to get him a souvenir if there's any money left over.
• In the final race at the Olympics, Don is seriously ill with an infection and visibly struggling to row. Bobby takes his megaphone off so he can talk quietly directly to Don, singing the song Don played for them on the piano earlier in the film to help him get back in tempo with the other rowers. With this encouragement, Don is able to push through his sickness and row with the team to victory.
  • Likewise, all the boys are shown to be visibly worried about Don's condition, hanging around to wait for news while he is seen by the doctor. Joe is implied to have been with Don for a while when he first started to feel unwell.
  • Ulbrickson offers to skip the Olympics opening ceremony to stay with Don so Joe can walk with the other boys. George is ultimately the one to stay with Don, saying that Ulbrickson needs to walk with his boys.
• Before the final race, Ulbrickson says that no matter if they win or lose, he's proud of the boys for making it this far.