Fantastic Must-See!

Rating: 10/10 (24 June 2017)

The synopsis of this movie will probably make you think it's a cheesy Disney movie about a washed up teacher who makes a difference to his bad-boy students. It's not that movie. It's a fantastic, moving, inspiring tale that you'll want to buy and add to your collection.
Kevin Costner plays a fired high school football coach with nowhere else to go but McFarland, USA, the poorest town in America in 1987. The kids there have no hope and no motivation, because before and after school they're out in tomato or lettuce fields helping their parents pick produce. They're not going to college; they'll become pickers when they graduate.
Costner sees his kids running after school and comes up with the idea of creating a cross country team. With no funding, no support, and no clue what he's doing, he starts training the kids.
The cross country portions of the film are exciting and fun to watch, but there's a lot more to this movie than the plot I just outlined. Costner and his family learn to make their new house their home, and this half of the film is interesting, tension-filled, and heartwarming. It's terribly sad to see the state of the town and how the poor residents survive, when the rest of America is thriving. Costner's character is unaware of their struggle when he first arrives, as most of the viewers will be, but as he gets to know his neighbors and bonds with the community, he (and we) are exposed to their cultural traditions.
If you're not drawn to the movie because of the sports, or the inspirational story, or because you like true stories, or you like Kevin Costner, I'll give you one more reason to watch it: Maria Bello's costumes. I've never seen her look so pretty, and she wears the most darling outfits!
But seriously, watch McFarland, USA. It's incredibly moving to watch how one teacher impacted a community and inspired a group of boys to look higher up than an agricultural field.