Movie Review McFarland,USA

McFarland USA


Story by Christopher Cleveland
Screenplay by Grant Thompson
Directed by Niki Caro
Starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello




A true story of a struggling coach and teacher Jim White (Costner)  had to move around for different incidents in his career. He finally comes to one of the poorest cities in America- McFarland, California, where he ends up creating and coaching a Cross-Country team.

Okay..I will get up on my soapbox here and give my speech:
If you vote for me to be on the school board I will reallocate money from a stupid-ass fence that bad guys can easily climb and make schools in a beautiful district look like a penitentiary. Then I would use that money for health insurance for...oh wait a minute that is the wrong speech!
Oh here it is:
My son ran Cross-Country for a really bad team. Like a really bad team. In fact while watching the film I learned how they score for Cross-Country. My son's team was so bad we never hung around to wait for the scoring. That is not a bad thing. I learned it is not about winning. It is what sports teams or school clubs bring to a teenagers life if helicopter parents stay out of the way. It brings the feelings of belonging to something. Being put in a situation where you find like minded people you may have never spoken to in the hustle and bustle of a busy school. Also meeting people who are not likeminded and learning the proper way find a place where you can get along and find common ground. It can create friendship and memories that can last a life time. Winning is great, but its the other things the teams and clubs can bring which can be great also. I think back at the teams my son was on for 4 years and I remember the smiles on the faces of this odd collection of teenagers. The laughs they had, cheering each other on. Giving their best efforts and then letting it go.
That was my speech, now down from soapbox.
Point?! That was part of my review. It is a Disney movie. You know what is going to happen at the end. However it shows exactly what my speech was about, the intangibles that being a part of something, can bring to a life. In this story not only the team but also the coach and the community. In reality..at the end, in my mind, it did not matter if they won the states or not.
This film is pretty good. Costner was perfect casting as the coach. He handles the part softly, almost knowing it is not about him, more about the team. It was over 2 hours and maybe could have used a little editing. I think it ran long because it was Disneyized, which means..if we can have one sweet emotional moment why cant we have 20 more. I would have liked to see a little more on how the members of the team did in school. Did their grades go up or down during this time? I love the end where you actually see the real members of the team running together now!! And find out how they are doing in their professional lives.
A really good family film. I will give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. May be the best film I have seen so far this year.


Again thanks for your time.


Get out and run...just run.