Review of McFarland, USA (2015) by Nathan M — 23 Feb 2015

For a sports film as sugary-sweet as McFarland USA, you'd expect to be a little sick of it by the end; however, with such assured and subdued direction from Niki Caro and a solid performance from Kevin Costner, McFarland USA is a good, family-friendly sports film from Disney. What works really well here is that Caro isn't trying really hard to make the next great sports film, but simply to tell this story the best way possible. There really aren't any big "halftime" speeches in the film, in fact, she deconstructs that scene at the beginning of the film.

By the nature of cross-country as a sport, it's not an incredibly compelling thing to watch on the big screen. Because there's not much planning or strategy between teammates on the field, it's hard to manage the pace of each sequence. What Caro does so well is that she builds the tension and the emotional connection off the field, and allows the races to be short sequences to punctuate the emotional arcs of each character.

That's not to say that the film doesn't look good, because this is one of the better looking films of the year. The cinematography is always interesting and helps to create a naturalistic feel for the film. This, accompanied by the effective, yet subdued score, really works to make the film feel like its naturally building to something. You never feel manipulated by the behind-the-scenes performances you're just watching the story unfold.

Of course, there are some problems with the film. It's not quite as Its plot is a little too predictable, its a little overstuffed, and some things feel a little too convenient to be real. Even though the film has some great supporting cast, including some of the boys on the team, a few townsfolk, as well as Costner's family, got to mention Morgan Saylor from Homeland, some of the performers aren't as strong and feel a little cheesy at times.

But none of this can derail the film. Unlike some other family-friendly fare I've seen recently, McFarland USA doesn't pull your heartstrings at every moment. It's simply content to allow the elements of the film to all have their place, and never force the moment to be more emotional than it is. It's a rather cinematic looking film for a story about people running, and on the strength of Costner and Caro, McFarland USA rises above most sports films.