Review

Hispanic high school runners, white coach learn teamwork in McFarland, USA

Thomas Valles (Carlos Pratts, left) goes into his kick to try to outrun a rival from a wealthier high school in McFarland, USA, based on the true story of a newly formed cross-country team in ’80s California.
Thomas Valles (Carlos Pratts, left) goes into his kick to try to outrun a rival from a wealthier high school in McFarland, USA, based on the true story of a newly formed cross-country team in ’80s California.

Unlike a lot of sports movies "based on a true story," Niki Caro's McFarland, USA actually unfolds like one.

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James White (Kevin Costner) is a down-on-his-luck high school football coach who gets a second chance by helping the sons of migrant workers compete against better-funded rivals in Niki Caro’s McFarland, USA.

While the triumphs of a small California cross-country team from a predominantly Hispanic high school are genuinely impressive, Caro and screenwriters Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois and Grant Thompson are charged with fashioning a tale with believable characters and plausible -- if inspiringly exceptional -- situations. It would be a lot easier to cheer for simulated races if they didn't seem so simulated.

McFarland, USA

87 Cast: Kevin Costner, Ramiro Rodriguez, Carlos Pratts, Johnny Ortiz, Rafael Martinez, Hector Duran, Sergio Avelar, Michael Aguero, Diana Maria Riva, Omar Leyva, Valente Rodriguez, Danny Mora, Maria Bello, Morgan Saylor, Elsie Fisher

Director: Niki Caro

Rating: PG, for thematic material, some violence and language

Running time: 128 minutes

Set in 1987 in a small agricultural town with a depressed economy and a large prison set against a high school where students are more likely to skip classes to earn extra cash during picking season than worry about whether their test scores will be good enough to provide options beyond their "safety schools," the story begins with the arrival of a white football coach.

This is James White (Kevin Costner), and no, Caro isn't sticking in a heavy metaphor. That's his real name. White is plagued by a temper that cost him the support of school administrators and players in places like Boise, Idaho. He initially sees McFarland as a place for him to try to rebuild his shaky reputation until suburban districts are hiring again. His job as an assistant football coach seems so unpromising and transitional he doesn't even bother to plant a tree on his lawn because he and his wife (Maria Bello) obviously have no plans to stay.

True to form, White soon experiences friction with the head coach, and finds himself reassigned as coach of the school's brand new cross-country squad. But, as it turns out, this is a sport where the McFarland kids have a chance to excel. Many of the kids are used to traveling formidable distances on foot to get from job to job. They've already developed long distance running capacities that dwarf those of kids in ritzier districts.

While White's inexperience gets the hastily formed team off to a shaky start, as he gets to know his runners as people, they start winning despite having hand-me-down uniforms and cruddy shoes.

New Zealand-born Caro first came to international attention with the terrific Whale Rider (2002), and she has a natural affinity for marginalized people. She also avoids depicting working class folks in either an idealized or condescending manner. The most delightful scenes in McFarland, USA are not the races but the ones where White's family and their new neighbors learn to live together. Caro keeps the musical crescendos to a minimum and figures viewers can decide for themselves if things are going well.

The team members are well rounded and have believable problems off the track. For example, as the team's star, Thomas Valles, Carlos Pratts can play disaffected without slipping into obnoxious. Similarly, Costner can play a well-meaning but clueless white dude while never coming off as a complete buffoon.

There aren't that many surprises in McFarland, USA. If there were, the film might not have been made. Nobody particularly wants to see the tale of a mediocre team that faded into obscurity or despair. So when Caro introduces the real Coach White and the runners at the end of the film, the transition doesn't feel all that jarring.

MovieStyle on 02/20/2015

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