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CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.
Film Review: New Twist to Inspiring Sports Story in ‘McFarland, USA’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 23, 2015 - 12:35pm
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”McFarland, USA” is now in theaters. Featuring Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Ramiro Rodriguez, Carlos Pratt, Johnny Ortiz and Rafael Martinez. Screenplay by Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois and Grant Thompson. Directed by Niki Caro. Rated “PG”
Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “McFarland, USA”
Thomas (Carlos Pratt) and Coach White (Kevin Costner) in ‘McFarland, USA’
Photo credit: Walt Disney StudiosContinue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “McFarland, USA”
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CHICAGO – Sports stories are made for the underdog, and it is the conduit for many immigrants and minorities to break through to the American Dream. “McFarland, USA” takes that idea and runs with it, as a high school cross country team of Mexican immigrants head towards the finish line.
 Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
Kevin Costner portrays the “coach,” with the same good vibes and unflappable air he has given all of his sports movie roles. This is based-on-a-true-story, so there actually is a cross country team in McFarland (north of Bakersfield, California), who kept winning because of the coach and the tradition established there. This is the origin story of that team in 1987, as the Mexican immigrant sons of “pickers” (field workers) become the core of the runners. The themes of poverty and wanting to belong to America run like a thread through the story, which per usual for sports stories involved second chances – for the coach – and triumphing against the odds.
Coach Jim White (Costner) has a temper problem, and is fired from an elite high school football program. He uproots his wife Cheryl (Maria Bello) and family yet again, and heads to the predominantly Hispanic town of McFarland, California. After learning that he’s not welcome in the football program there, he takes on the job of cross country coach, and starts assembling a team.
The prime candidates are wary, and they mostly come from poor immigrant families who pick the various crops that grow in the region. The boys are expected at a certain age to pitch in, and that causes another strain on the slim resources of the team. But the goal is to win the state championship, and the aim of this determined group of outsiders is to do so.
Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “McFarland, USA”Thomas (Carlos Pratt) and Coach White (Kevin Costner) in ‘McFarland, USA’
Photo credit: Walt Disney Studios
Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “McFarland, USA”
