McFarland USA, the latest true to life sports inspirational film produced by Disney is the story of the 1987 McFarland, California High School cross country team coached by Jim White (Kevin Costner), who moved into town after being fired as a football coach in Boise, Idaho after being hot-headed and physical with one its student player.
The Hispanic dominated town of McFarland is a 360 turn for him, his wife Cheryl (Maria Bello) and their two daughters Julie (Morgan Saylor) and Jamie (Elsie Fisher). On their first dinner night out, the family went into the neighborhood Taqueria and were amazed and bewildered by it's menu and asked for the usual burger when they don't know what to order. They also had to overcome the usual character stereotypes for Hispanic folks and in true Disney fashion won them over by their openness and kindness in such an impoverished town whose students leave school early to work and help their parents in the field after doing the same thing before going to school early in the morning.
When Coach White or Blanco as the people in the town would call him, saw the potential of some of its students in running, he proposed to the high school principal (Valente Rodriguez) to create a cross country team for the school and focus on it instead of having a football team, hesitant at first but gave in the end, White formed a group of students to train and set it sights at the State Championship.
We have seen the underdog sports story before in films also produced by Disney such as Cool Runnings, Miracle, The Rookie and Invincible but ably directed by Niki Caro who helmed the Oscar nominated films Whale Rider and North Country, McFarland USA succeeds as a sports film anchored by Kevin Costner's performance. After Bull Durham and Field of Dreams, this is his best sports film compared to the recent Draft Day and Talent for the Game. We also see the Central California that we rarely see in the movies and the struggles of its mostly Hispanic residents who rely on picking fruits, nuts and vegetables on the field for their daily survival. This is the first feel good movie of 2015 and it deserves to be seen by many to be inspired.
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