McFarland USA Races into Theaters
April 2, 2015
If someone could choose any one sport to watch, cross country would be an unlikely pick, yet Disney’s McFarland USA is an inspirational movie about how a cross country coach brought inspiration to a rather hopeless town.
Photo By: Artikel Film, (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mcfarland_usa.jpg), via Wikimedia Commons
The 240 minute movie is rated PG so that the whole family can enjoy it. McFarland USA featured actor Kevin Costner as the lead role of coach Jim White.
The town of McFarland is primarily made up of Hispanic students who wake up early in the morning and work until late at night picking crops. The high school is also conveniently located right next door to a prison.
The movie is based off the true story of Jim White, who built the boys team from the ground up, helping the team become state champions that first year he coached.
In real life, there had actually been a girls and boys cross country team years before the 1987 championship team. The team did not exist in 1986, so White built both teams up himself.
In the movie, however, there is only a boys team, and the team is created for the first time in 1987.
The premise of the movie is that coach Jim White is forced to move to one of the poorest towns in America, McFarland California, due to prior incidents at other schools.
In the movie, the White family is apprehensive about moving to the impoverished town, but feet so welcomed by the community that they end up staying there and even enjoying it.
The coach took a group of kids who were essentially on the track to either end up in prison or pick in the fields for the rest of their lives, and he used running to unintentionally turn their lives around.
The coach worked around the packed schedule of the runners and even worked in the fields along-side of them so that they could get their work done in time for practice.
Accompanied by many bumps and twists, the plot unfolds as the McFarland runners overcome quite a few obstacles to make it to states, along with the support of their community.
Overall, McFarland USA is a surprisingly inspirational and motivational movie that is definitely a must see.
