McFarland

After a million years as an IMDb member I'm finally inspired to write a review. This movie is guileless and sweet in the most beautiful way. Not heavy-handed, no huge buildup over the races (in all aspects of the word), but rather huge focus on interpersonal relationships and the judgments every human makes about one another. There's also huge pride in the small working towns I've personally driven through on my way to somewhere else, and the seemingly small people whose backs we live off of. There is so much heart here. I'm surprised this is a Disney movie.

Anyway, I believe love drives us. And this is such an affirmation of the different types of love and relationships that can push us in the best ways and help us achieve greatness. I'm so deeply pleased to have seen this film. Every one of us has a moment or period when we are down for the count. We don't always handle it with grace. That doesn't mean we are without grace.

I've seen this film a few times, and again today after a long time. I can't get bored of it. A story about commitment, dreams, not giving up, family and sport. Excellent biopic with great directing, writing and performances. These type of films are right up Costner's alley.

You would not think it at first glance but McFarland, USA turns out to be the site of an inspiring motion picture as well as the title for same. It's the story of a down and out high school coach played by Kevin Costner who in a last chance job takes one at a high school in the small town of McFarland, California having one of the poorest per capita incomes in the USA and made up of a mostly Chicano population who work mostly as fruit pickers. One of the first sites he sees at his new job as a Physical Education Teacher is mom picking up her three sons for their jobs as pickers after school.

But those three brothers turn out to be an integral part of the cross country running team that he creates for the school. These kids see no future other than the fields of citrus fruit to pick and really have no confidence in themselves. Once he learns the culture Costner is able to motivate those kids to achieve not only in track, but in life.

Costner and wife Maria Bello mix so well with them that they even have a Quincinera for their 15 year old daughter Morgan Saylor, a custom in Hispanic families kind of a coming out for a 15 year old daughter. The Quincinera also leads to a crisis of sorts, but it reaffirms the faith and trust that the kids and parents have developed in Costner.

McFarland,USA is a fine family film from the Disney Studios and recommended most definitely for juvenile audiences.

In making this movie Kevin Costner stuck to the formula, the one that most feel good sports movies use, and made it work beautifully. There are no unexpected fancy twists in this one. The acting is straight up and solid. The ethnic background of the movie adds to the movie in good way. I enjoy a few of the scenes that involve the interactions between the coach or his family and the locals. They demonstrate how cultural interaction and familiarity can eliminate fear and breakdown the walls that divide us. Don't get me wrong, the movie is not trying to give you a social/cultural lecture, this stuff comes naturally mixed with the main story line.

If you like the genre, you'll enjoy this movie.

Okay, Kevin Costner can do this character in his sleep. His "Coach/Manager/Player who has seen it all" character is standard stuff for him. It's basically "Bull Durham", "Draft Day", "For Love of the Game" all rolled into the same guy. That's not a bad thing. I like him in those roles. It's just nothing new. What's surprising is the plethora of fabulous performances by the kids and townspeople in this terrific little TRUE story. They ROCK this picture. Special recognition to the set designers who created a beautiful location for all the running sequences. It was a rich assortment of landscapes that mesmerized the visual senses on BluRay.

Basic plot: Costner (Jim White) is a football coach at a reasonably successful high school program. Because of a mistake in the opening sequence, the coach is fired and lands in a dead-end town in Nowhere'sville, USA - aka McFarland, CA. The fish-out-of-water family has a few brushes with the local Mexican population where they think being the only (seemingly) white family in the area is a bad idea and are intending on moving immediately. Then Costner sees a kid running a sub-5-minute mile on his way to work in the produce fields with the rest of the population of minority workers in the area. What follows is fairly standard Disney stuff of our innocent but willing racially-inferior minnows who fight to get better against the racist, elitist killer whales (rich kids) of the other schools. What makes this watchable is how true the story is. Don't get me wrong. There are some formulaic sequences here. But how they pull it off is worth the cinematic journey. For Disney, I'm proud of them for taking a racial theme and turning it into a positive story for all involved.

I have to say the reason I'm giving this a "7" is because of the EXCELLENT behind-the-scenes stories where the filmmakers interview the runners from the team, along with the real coach, Jim White, and Kevin Costner all at the same sitting. Hearing them reminiscing (the movie is set in 1989), talking about the movie, and showing genuine care and respect for their beloved coach and each other... It's what a coach could only hope for in the children who grow up to be fine adults. Mr. White created a dynasty of runners that forged an ironclad identity with hope for the future in this nothing town when nobody was giving them a chance. One man can still make a difference on a global scale if you work hard enough. It's inspiring stuff.

The highest praise I can give this movie: My two teenage athlete children (soccer and baseball/softball) who have watched literally hundreds and hundreds of movies were against it. It was Disney for crying out loud. And a movie about CROSS COUNTRY no less. They would rather watch "Mission Impossible 15" or anything else. These are seasoned moviephiles. But Dad just wouldn't be denied. ;-) Within the first 15 minutes, they were hooked and enjoyed every minute of the rest of the movie. They even sat through the behind-the-scenes interviews. It was a family experience I won't forget. Well done, Disney.

As a coach myself, this is the kind of stuff that inspires me to work with kids who don't have a future in their current situation. And if you're already a coach, it may open your eyes to kids who have natural talents that may be wasted on something other than where their true skills lie. Much recommended. :-)