McFarland, USA (2015)

• Year: 2015
• Released: 20 Feb 2015
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 4 wins & 3 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2097298/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mcfarland_usa
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mcfarland-usa
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, Spanish
• MPA Rating: PG
• Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
• Runtime: 129 min
• Writer: Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois, Grant Thompson
• Director: Niki Caro
• Cast: Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Ramiro Rodriguez
• Keywords: woman director, small town, california, coach, championship,

	7.4/10
	60/100
	80% – Critics
	88% – Audience

McFarland, USA Storyline

1987. Jim White, a high school teacher and football coach, has been fired from one job after another, as the desired end of getting people to do the right thing in his mind has not always justified his sometimes impetuous and spontaneous actions as the means. He, his wife Cheryl White, and their daughters, mid-teen Julie White and preteen Jamie White, have only lived in largely white homogeneous environments, so when Jim accepts the only job he can get as life sciences and phys ed teacher and assistant football coach at McFarland High School in Central California, they are somewhat ill-prepared mentally for the relatively poor conditions and the largely homogeneous Hispanic population in the town, most of their neighbors Mexican immigrants who work as pickers in the surrounding agricultural fields. Within this situation, many of those in the next generation have little chance of getting out of this life, many turning to crime as a means to survive. Regardless, the Whites decide to live in McFarland instead of Jim making the commute from nearby Bakersfield, where most of the school’s Caucasian teachers live. While the school’s football team is as bad as most that he has coached, the one thing he does notice is that out of necessity many of the boys have the stamina to run long distances quickly. Beyond not respecting Mr. White who they mockingly call Blanco or Homey, the boys see running cross country, a team which Jim wants to establish at McFarland despite he having no history coaching runners, as an activity of the country club set. Jim does whatever he can to get the key boys in any way he can to be the core of the needed seven member team. For them to gel as coach and team members, they will have to understand the other better and fully embrace the opportunities. As the boys manage to reach one goal after another on the march to the state championships, their newfound support as a collective may be threatened by the realities of McFarland and Jim catching the attention of other, more prestigious schools in predominantly white, upper middle class communities.

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McFarland, USA Movie Reviews

Excellent biopic!

I’ve seen this film a few times, and again today after a long time. I can’t get bored of it. A story about commitment, dreams, not giving up, family and sport. Excellent biopic with great directing, writing and performances. These type of films are right up Costner’s alley.

Once he learns the culture

You would not think it at first glance but McFarland, USA turns out to be the site of an inspiring motion picture as well as the title for same. It’s the story of a down and out high school coach played by Kevin Costner who in a last chance job takes one at a high school in the small town of McFarland, California having one of the poorest per capita incomes in the USA and made up of a mostly Chicano population who work mostly as fruit pickers. One of the first sites he sees at his new job as a Physical Education Teacher is mom picking up her three sons for their jobs as pickers after school.

But those three brothers turn out to be an integral part of the cross country running team that he creates for the school. These kids see no future other than the fields of citrus fruit to pick and really have no confidence in themselves. Once he learns the culture Costner is able to motivate those kids to achieve not only in track, but in life.

Costner and wife Maria Bello mix so well with them that they even have a Quincinera for their 15 year old daughter Morgan Saylor, a custom in Hispanic families kind of a coming out for a 15 year old daughter. The Quincinera also leads to a crisis of sorts, but it reaffirms the faith and trust that the kids and parents have developed in Costner.

McFarland,USA is a fine family film from the Disney Studios and recommended most definitely for juvenile audiences.

traditional underdog movie

It’s 1987. Jim White (Kevin Costner) is struggling to coach high school football in Boise, Idaho. He throws a shoe near a disrespectful player and it ricochets bloodying him. He and his wife Cheryl (Maria Bello) move to McFarland, California with their two daughters. It’s a lower class Latino area and the only teaching job he could get. He gets kicked out as assistant football coach in the first week. He notices that some of the kids have potential as runners.

Kevin Costner can do the hard angry white guy in his sleep now. There are some pretty interesting young actors among the Latino kids. It’s an inspirational based-on-a-true-story. It follows the traditional underdog formula. They have to face the obvious racism and all the expected hurdles. There isn’t much drama. There are a few funny moments. There are opportunities to dig a lot deeper. The incident with Julie could be expanded on. Instead the movie does a little before and after. The heart of the incident and the reason for it are never fully explained. There is also the problem of filming running as a sport. The film does it the best that they can but the calculating process makes it less dramatic. This is a perfectly fine sports movie.