McFarland, USA

PG
Starring: Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Ramiro Rodriguez, Carlos Pratts, Johnny Ortiz,
Rafael Martinez, Hector Duran, Sergio Avelar and Michael Aguero
Running Time: 2 Hours and 8 Minutes

This is the true story about a small town in central California in 1987. McFarland High School is in dire need of a new PE and Life Science teacher. Enter Coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) who is also in dire need of a new teaching job!
Coach White had been living in Boise, Idaho coaching the high school football team there when he was dismissed for trying to teach a smart alec kid a lesson about respect.
He uprooted his wife Cheryl (Maria Bello), two daughters, Julie (Morgan Saylor), and
Jamie (Elsie Fisher) and relocated to McFarland, California where they were definitely the minority.
They moved into a very small home that was unlike any they had lived in before. They were total misfits! It took some time and patience for them to feel comfortable and accepted by the community.
McFarland was almost completely comprised of Latinos who referred to themselves as "pickers". They made their living by picking crops in central California, day in and day out.
They expected their young sons to help them out as well. They were required to work every morning before attending school and again after school. A very difficult and tedious schedule for them to maintain. Their parents did not have any expectations for their children, they just assumed they would eventually end up being "pickers" full time like they themselves were.
Coach White had the opportunity to observe the students in PE class and noticed while they were running track that several of them had a real gift of running exceptionally fast! As time went by he continued to be impressed with their ability and decided to look at the school rules to see if he could implement a track team. When he was able to get the okay and decided to approach the students about it, most of them were against it. He needed seven boys to qualify to run in the State meets.
Finally, after convincing them to give it a try, he was on a mission.
This was a really good and inspirational story about sportsmanship, responsibility, human interaction and relationships, but to me, more importantly, it was mostly about learning how to trust!
How to overcome boundaries and finding a side of yourself that you never knew you had.
I was very pleasantly surprised with this movie and the warmth and tender feelings I ended up with after watching it. This is definitely a sports and relationships "feel good movie"!
On a side note, Kevin Costner said in an interview that he grew up not far from McFarland and he used to play against the McFarland High School teams when he was in high school, so this movie was very personal to him!
Parents be advised:This movie is rated PG, I found nothing unsuitable in this movie and feel that it is appropriate for children ages eight and over.
I am giving "McFarland, USA" three and a half bags of popcorn.