McFarland, USA Shows How to Run the Race

Last updated on: February 20, 2015 at 9:26 am by Christian Hamaker

McFarland, USA Shows How to Run the Race 2015-02-20T09:26:17-07:00 Christian Hamaker

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A Review of McFarland, USA, Directed by Niki Caro

The film business, like TV and radio, has devolved into niche programming, as film companies increasingly target their products to different audience segments. Younger male audiences are especially catered to—witness the surplus of superhero movies in recent years, and planned for years to come. Then then are kids’ movies, movies for older adults, and the much-desired “four-quadrant” hit that manages to pull in both young and old, male and female.

Disney’s new film, McFarland, USA, feels almost old-fashioned in its lack of pandering to any single demographic, but that’s not to say it won’t appeal to different audience types. It’s a family film with little objectionable content, a familiar story arc and inspirational themes, yet it’s not animated, it’s not set in space and it has no special effects.

This time, Disney has delivered another against-the-odds sports story in the tradition of The Rookie—indeed, from the same producers behind that earlier film, as well as the more recent Million Dollar Arm, Secretariat and Miracle. What sets McFarland, USA apart is not only the sport it focuses on—cross country running—but also its multiethnic cast and respectful references to faith and prayer.

High school football coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) doesn’t use profanity, but he’s no saint. He has a temper that flares at times, and his latest outburst has just cost him his job. Hired to coach the football team in McFarland, California—“one of the poorest towns in America,” we’re told—White finds himself in the minority among a heavily Latino community. “Are we in Mexico?” asks one daughter, while the other pleads, “Please tell me we too the wrong exit.”

Image Credit: Walt Disney Media

White’s McFarland football players are undisciplined on the field, but he notices that some of them can run fast once the school day is over. They’re on their way to help out their families, who work as “pickers” in the local fields.

Sensing that McFarland’s football program isn’t about to turn around, White gets the skeptical school principal’s buy-in for a new cross country running team. White, who had never coached runners, and the kids, who had never participated in organized running, soon are taking on—and defeating—preppy kids from other schools who underestimate their ragtag competitors.

What happens next can be found via a quick Google search, but the film’s main pleasure is in its character interactions. White, nicely played by Costner, navigates the challenges of raising his daughters among people he initially mistrusts, then warms to—only to have his newfound acceptance challenged when a family member faces danger. After missing his 15-year-old’s birthday party, he allows a local store owner to help repair the damaged parent-child relationship. Meanwhile, after White’s wife (Maria Bello) is befriended by a beautician, she soon finds herself feeling more “at home” in McFarland than she ever has in the better-off towns the family has lived in previously.

Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) lets the straightforward story unfold in an unhurried manner, without any visual fireworks to distract from the cast’s winning performances. Costner, who’s been building a second career as a supporting actor in movies like The Company Men and Man of Steel, anchors McFarland, USA with a sturdy lead performance that is among his best.

Religious elements are rarely explicit in McFarland, USA—the team is seen praying, and crucifixes and other religious imagery are seen. The film is more about the importance of human connections within families and within neighborhoods. It also shows a father and husband taking responsibility for his failings and pressing toward better outcomes in the future.

McFarland, USA isn’t great cinema, but it’s a well told story that stands alongside other strong sports films of recent years. Inspirational but never preachy, McFarland, USA is well performed and, when it needs to be, even stirring.

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