Kevin Costner is too old to play the athlete anymore, so he is now taking roles as a coach. This movie has good reviews, but it isn’t doing too well at the box office. It is based a true and inspiring story. I really enjoyed the film, and it deserves a better fate. I liked it even more than The Blind Side because it has more depth and is even more inspiring. If you want to see a movie about the American Dream (even if you don’t believe in it anymore), this is as good as it gets.
Jim White (Costner) is a football coach. He loses his temper at a player and gets fired. He can’t get a job anyplace decent after this unfortunate incident, so he, his wife (Cheryl-Mario Bello), and his two daughters are forced to move to MacFarland, a one-horse town in Central California populated almost exclusively by Hispanic field workers – mainly immigrants and their first generation children. He is hired as the assistant football coach and science teacher. White has forgotten more about football than the head coach knows.
Soon after his arrival, White gets into a conflict with the head coach and then winds up starting and coaching the MacFarland High School cross country team. White knows nothing about Cross Country running.
The film depicts the very difficult lives of the field workers and their kids, who are essentially doomed to a similar life. One gets a very good feel for the Hispanic culture and their emphasis on family. White gets a 7-man team together and the rest is history. (I don’t want to spoil the plot.)
Run, don’t walk, to MacFarland, USA.
Rating-8.0 – very good movie.
Dave
