Review of McFarland, USA (2015) by John W — 19 Aug 2015

"McFarland is a good corn-dog of a movie with Kevin Costner giving another terrific performance".

DVD Movie Review: McFarland, USA.

Date Viewed: June 2 2015.

Directed By Niki Caro (North Country and Whale Rider).

Screenplay By Christopher Cleveland, Grant Thompson and Bettina Gilois, Story By Christopher Cleveland and Bettina Gilois.

Starring: Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Morgan Saylor, Carlos Pratts, Elsie Fisher, Johnny Ortiz, Hector Duran, Sergio Avelar, Michael Aguero, Rafael Martinez, Ramiro Rodriguez and Valente Rodriguez.

Here we go again guys, another inspirational sports movie from Disney. This time the movie is about cross country running and it's also based on a true story. What elevates the material here is Kevin Costner giving another terrific performance as high school coach Jim White in this underdog sports movie.

Who is Jim White? He's the coach of the McFarland cross country running team. After moving to McFarland, Jim, his wife, Cheryl (Maria Bello) and two daughters, Julie and Jamie try to settle in their new neighborhood but it isn't easy. Jim becomes the new coach for McFarland High School and his students are mostly Latino. His students are not good at football but they are good runners on the track. Soon, Jim decides to draft seven of his students to the cross country team and compete for the upcoming state championships. As you would expect, Jim turns the underdogs into athletes.

"McFarland, USA" maybe safe and super-corny but Costner and the Latino athletes shine in this little crowd pleaser from director Niki Caro (Whale Rider). Sure, "McFarland" uses the same formula that has worked in other Disney sports movies like "Miracle", "Invincible" and "Million Dollar Arm" but it's still a good family drama.