Official Synopsis
In the tradition of Disney sports movies comes “McFarland, USA” based on a true story of underdogs triumphing over tremendous obstacles. This heartwarming drama follows novice runners who strive to build a cross-country team under Coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) in their predominantly Latino high school. Everyone has a lot to learn about each other, but when Coach realizes the boys’ exceptional running ability, things change. Beyond their talent, it’s the power of family, commitment to each other and work ethic that transform them into champions — helping them achieve their own American dream.
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This is one of those predictable, sappy films that you know how the structure of it is going to work. The coach comes in, has a tough time adapting to the environment, something happens, he is adapted, he improves the environment and the rest is what you think it might be. As predictable as McFarland, USA might be, the acting, directing and writing help to make it a big different from the rest.
Let’s get this going.
The first act of the film starts with Jim White (Kevin Costner) being fired from his head football coaching position at a private school due to an incident/accident he has with a player. The movie quickly transitions to White’s silent family car ride to an unknown, rundown, hopeless town called McFarland, which is predominantly populated by Mexican immigrants. Unsure of his tenure at McFarland high school, and how well his family is going to take to the town, he does his best to adapt to the situation. Sadly, his first week at McFarland has him clash with the football coach and White soon finds himself on the outside looking in of McFarland’s football program — the reason why he came to McFarland.
The clash between coaches happens because White is trying to protect a young kid named Johnny Sameniego (Hector Duran) from getting pummeled on the field. Seeming is clearly undersized and overmatched, and near concussion when White steps in to keep him off the field. The old coach wants him in the game, White wants him out. The disagreement has White, as well as Sameniego, removed from the team. Struggling to find ground and to find a purpose, White decides (after watching kids run during his P.E. class) that a shift in sports might be in order for him — specifically, cross country, which is a sport McFarland doesn’t have yet.
The first act really sets the tone for the story. Director Niki Caro and writer Christopher Cleveland establish not only the type of person Costner’s White is, but also what type of town McFarland is perceived to be without really taking a tour of it or its residents. Everything that is set for the next two acts really resides and is beautifully crafted within the high school and by its students. If you’re looking for a blue print to hook your audience’s attention, then Caro and Cleveland have it laid out for you with their first act. They define the characters, the town and the overall loser mentality that comes with both. The director and writer establish everything beautifully and it’s a great way to kick things off.
As the second act begins, and most notably the biggest act out of the bunch, White struggles with keeping the kids focused and making them understand they have a chance to do something great. On top of this, White also has to adjust his own understanding of what the kids are going through in their lives. He has to realize that these kids, who come from a family of traditional ‘pickers’ (folks who pick fields on farms for a living), have more on their plate than the average high school student. White transitions from outsider to someone who firmly grasps all of this by participating and experiencing the kids side of life. It takes a while for White to come around, but when he does then everything and everyone starts clicking together perfectly, including the townsfolk.
This is my favorite act out of the bunch and one that tells a harsh reality. In a typical movie like this, you would have maybe one or two characters that have some external issue going on that the lead character/coach has to help correct or set things right. This isn’t the case with McFarland, USA. The story lays it all out there and doesn’t pull punches. It shows that these kids have to balance out their school life and work life, if not only for their family’s survival, and the coach has to adjust with them. Both tasks require so much out of the kids, which makes this movie even more powerful. This isn’t an 80s film where the kids can just let go one and concentrate on one thing, regardless of how it turns out, rather the kids have to keep their work going, so they can keep their school going, and ultimately keep their family going. It’s a tough situation and it’s portrayed and treated quite well on the screen. By defining the kids and their situation, it makes the McFarland cross country progression, and eventual victories, that much sweeter. It’s powerful stuff, folks.
Act three ends like you would expect it to end. I will say that success breeds opportunity and that opportunity is spread throughout the team, even the coach. I won’t give anything else away about the resolution of the film, but I commend director Niki Caro and writer Christopher Cleveland for making this typically predictable movie much more than ‘typical’. They really did a great job with driving home and defining the kids, the coach and the town of McFarland quite well.
Kudos and major props need to go to the efforts of Kevin Costner, who was quite into this role from the get-go. This is one of his better films of the last decade and I hope he makes more like this. Also enormous props need to go to the kids in the film, Ramiro Rodriguez, Carlos Pratts, Johnny Ortiz, Rafael Martinez, Hector Duran, Sergio Avelar and Michael Aguero. These kids absolutely stole the show and embraced the challenge of bringing the real life heroes and pioneers of McFarland’s cross country team to life. They did a fantastic job of emulating and making the kids situation endearing and believable. Huge praise to the cast, as this movie would not have worked as well without their efforts.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a solid, feel-good family film to watch on a Saturday night, then you should strongly consider McFarland, USA.
On the Blu-ray side of things, the visuals were beautifully translated to the HD format. With that said, there is a heavy amount of yellow filter used during the film (it helps bring out the dustiness of the town), the different levels of visual style when the team is away from McFarland really help the HD transfer stand out. While there was a bit of graininess here and there in the low-lit scenes, the majority of the HD transfer was pretty solid. No color banding, thankfully.
On the special features side of things, here’s what you’re looking at:
– McFarland Reflections
– “Juntos” Music Video by Juanes
– Inspiring McFarland
– Deleted and Extended Scenes
There isn’t a lot here outside of the reflections piece and Inspiring McFarland feature. I wish they had included commentary from director Niki Caro, as I would have loved to here her experience and research that led to the making of this film.
What you get is good, but certainly not great.
