Image Credit:  McFarland Movie Press Release Image

McFarland, USA Movie Review

In honor of her 20th birthday, my daughter wanted our family to get together to see a movie.  She chose McFarland, USA.  As a former Cross Country runner, she was interested in the story line.

Kevin Costner plays the part of Coach Jim White.  Coach White’s lack of control over his temper gets him relieved from his football coaching job, forcing him to move his family to McFarland, a predominately Latino community in California.  The town is also one of the poorest communities in the country – or at least it was in 1987.  McFarland, USA is based on the true story of Coach Jim White and several young students who form a small “under-dog” Cross Country team.  During the team’s quest to rise from the bottom, Coach White has a lot to learn about the culture of his new community and the lives of his new students.  The 7 boys who agree to form the team learn a lot about Coach White too.

This movie is a fantastic family movie highlighting family loyalty, excellent work ethics, setting priorities, friendships, and of course,  overcoming obstacles.

This film is a Disney movie which is rated PG for thematic material, some violence, and language.  It is directed by Niki Caro and written by William Broyles Jr. , Grant Thompson, Bettina Gilois, Christopher Cleveland, and Chris Cleveland.  It runs approximately 2 hours and 9 minutes.

Watch the movie trailer!

I am passionate about clean family drama films and even though this movie does have a couple of words that I consider bad words and there are some adult themes that very young children will not necessarily understand, I recommend this film.  You can take your entire family and leave the theater knowing your kids learned something about life, inspiration, overcoming obstacles, family loyalty, work ethics, cultural differences, developing relationships, and making and keeping commitments.  You will also know your money was well spent.

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