Mac Hernandez

[yasr_overall_rating]
 

A football coach with an anger problem reluctantly coaches a new sport (cross country running) at a new school.  In the process, he brings empowerment and hope to kids and a town that had none.

Every generation has their version of a kid sports movie (“The Bad News Bears,” “The Sandlot,” “Little Giants,” “The Mighty Ducks,” etc). These films often have similar themes. Sometimes it’s a maverick coach who has one last chance to prove himself with a team of misfits who don’t know their value. Sometimes the theme is kids starting to believe in themselves after having small victories. Normally there is some underdog on the team that you get to root for when they have their time to shine. At some point those kids get to take on their rival that has taunted them from the beginning.

“McFarland, USA” is no different. That’s a good thing…it’s like having your favorite meal at a restaurant. If it works, why change it up too much?  Walt Disney Pictures is great at taking the tried and true stories and retelling them with new likable characters. The nice thing about this story is that, despite its formulaic plot, it’s based on true events, so that always gives a lot more weight to what you’re watching. The movie is based on the 1987 McFarland Cross Country running team and their coach. It’s not as whimsical or cheesy as “The Bad News Bears” or “The Sandlot” but there is still a lot of fun to be had. The biggest humor stems from culture shock and differences.

The film starts off with marching band music and the sounds of a football stadium. The first scene is of a locker room at half time. The team is jovial, despite being massively outscored by the opposing team. And this attitude makes head coach, Jim White (Kevin Costner) livid. He loses his anger and a flung shoe accidentally hits a player. Between hitting a player and a huge loss, this becomes the last straw for White. He loses his job and is forced to relocate his family and find new work at a predominantly Latino high-school.

The drive into McFarland is a surprise for the family who react like they’ve entered another country. One daughter says, “Dad, tell me you took the wrong exit.” Another asks, “Are we in Mexico?” Their shock continues as they arrive at their new house to find chickens in the neighbor’s yards and a mural on the front room wall of a lady holding vegetables in a pose similar to the Catholic painting of the Virgin Mary. Later, a family meal in town reminds them of their scary environments when a trail of gang like cars and Latinos pull up and seem to taunt them. Costner’s character high tales it out of there back to his house. “Welcome to McFarland.”

It’s a little rough settling into his new role and new community, but White and his family manage. After an altercation with another school coach, White is demoted from Football Assistant Coach to just PE teacher. Initially, he and the kids don’t connect since they’re from two different worlds. The kids in this school and this town are mostly pickers in families of pickers. They wake up before school and spend hours doing grueling work on farmland. They pick everything from nuts to vegetables, depending on their ages. This has hardened them all just a little.

It’s while White is fulfilling his PE duties that he comes across a group of kids who appear to have great speed when running laps. This inspires him to see if he can create a cross-country running team. He’s asked if he’s ever coached crossed-country before while in a meeting with the principal. The answer is no. Next he’s asked if he competed in high school. Again, the answer is no. The principal quips, “Well, you sound perfect.”

It takes some convincing to get the boys to sign up. A family of three brothers eventually sign up, including Danny Diaz, who some feel is too slow to be on the team.

Even after they sign up, it takes convincing their families to let them stay. As one father says to White, “Each hour my boys train with you, they do not work with me. That’s food off our table.” This is ultimately the real theme of the movie.

1987 McFarland is a poor, hardworking community. Most families do backbreaking work just to survive. It’s a cycle that never seems to have any end. It will take a leap of faith for some to get out of that cycle.  That leap is running.

After a lot of hard training and some victories, the families and town start to rally around their boys. On their first outing and race in Palo Alto, they meet their rival, who doesn’t respect them.  They mock them. This becomes the team to beat for the rest of the movie. But the team’s biggest adversary is themselves and the environment. They take on both with their battle cry,”Uno, dos, tres…McFarland!” No matter how tough the course, or their competitor, nothing is tougher that the world they live in daily.

There are some nice moments throughout the film. The actors playing the young cross country team do a great job of playing on the dynamics of emotion that kids from that time would be facing. Carlos Pratts plays Thomas Diaz who has a real chip on his shoulder. Danny Dietz is the real underdog in this story that you root for. He’s the slowest, but he’s the anchor, and his victories really underscore the heart of everyone in the movie.

There’s standout acting from various people in the film. Diana Maria Riva plays the Diaz kids’ mom. She’s a force to be reckoned with, but has good motives, and can be won over. The shop owner is a likable, friendly face in a sometimes hostile environment. And last, but not least, Kevin Costner is always a solid, dependable acting force. He is great as the coach who has something to prove…not just to others, but to his family and himself.

This is a feel good story, with a lot of heart. The best part of the film is the ending where you get to see the real people the film is based on and what has happened to them since. Did they make it out of the town that seemed like a dead-end? Did they go off to college? And did the coach stay with his family in McFarland?

You should “run” to theaters to find out. Highly recommended.