Cinemazlowski Costner inspires in 'McFarland, USA'

Feb 26, 2015

There are few present-day actors who are as beloved and as worthy of all-time icon status as Kevin Costner. And there are even fewer great sports movies these days that can inspire greatness and teach life lessons along the lines of “Rocky” and “Breaking Away.”

But thanks to the new movie “MacFarland USA ,” which opened strongly last weekend and stars Costner in the true story of a white coach who overcame culture clashes to inspire a champion team of poor Latino cross-country runners, audiences have the opportunity to have both. Better yet for Catholics, the movie is filled with imagery of the devoutly faithful teens and their families’ homes filled with images of Mary and crucifixes as well as making note of the athletes’ prayerfulness.

“MacFarland” takes place in 1987, when high school coach Jim White was fired from a job as football coach in Boise , Idaho , after the latest in a string of anger-control issues occurred against a student. With his wife and two daughters in tow, he is forced to take a job as assistant coach and a teacher in McFarland , California – smack in the middle of farm country, surrounded by Hispanic migrant workers and their kids, who make up the entire student body.

When White butts heads with the head coach after just one game, his life is hanging by a thread. He gets reassigned to supervise the PE period, and lazily tells his students to run around the school’s weatherbeaten and decrepit track. While most of the kids do so half-heartedly, he notices a few of the boys are able to race like the wind without even trying.

The reason for that, he discovers, is that the boys are used to running a lot of miles every day at rapid speed in order to make it to and from school so they can work in the fields with their families outside of class hours. When White notices that one boy in particular is running 5 minute miles without any training , and running at that pace for several miles to boot, he goes to the principal and demands the chance to start a cross-country team.

And so the powerful and surprisingly unpredictable story begins. It’s easy to assume that viewers will be subjected to a threadbare series of clichés, but the ace script by Christopher Cleveland and Bettina Gilois weaves a powerful tale filled with twists and a surprising amount of wit. Director Nikki Caro of “Whale Rider” and “North Country” fame (her direction inspired Oscar-nominated performances in both films) makes both cultures come to life and helps guide the team’s young actors (some of whom are students and migrant workers themselves in real life) to beautifully realized performances. It’s also Costner’s best big-screen role in about a decade.

White comes to realize that the only way he can convince the boys’ parents to let them run for him and limit their work in the fields is if he shows that he cares about the families and their culture first. He joins them in the fields for a day, starts eating Mexican food regularly for the first time since he starts getting invited over for dinner. These moments ring true  in both their initial humorous awkwardness and their eventual touching sense of understanding and connection.

But the movie, despite being a PG-rated release from Disney, also manages to address gritty subject matter like domestic violence, a near-suicide attempt, unexpected pregnancy and gang violence in a way that respects adult viewers’ intelligence while handling the issues subtly enough to not scare or confuse children. It’s a delicate balancing act that is quite impressive, and gives the film extra punch when it needs it – as well.

Parents need not worry that any of this is handled in a way that children can’t handle. No one is physically hurt onscreen, and there’s no sex, nudity or foul language to speak of. The most intense moment, which might scare younger children, is when Costner and his family race to a scene where one of his team members was shot by a gang member.

But “McFarland USA ” isn’t defined by these gritty moments, but rather transcends them in a way that makes the movie highly truthful and that much more inspiring. I was traveling last weekend and missed getting the review in for opening day, but I highly encourage families and frankly anyone who appreciate a great and inspiring film to continue supporting it this weekend with a trip to see it.