Really good and sweet, which I was not expecting

Rating: 10/10 (10 December 2019)

McFarland, USA was actually really good, which I was not expecting. Of course, I suppose I had been biased against it because it was filmed at my high school in the midst of my junior year, and the entire student body was annoyed that we had to put up with these giant wooden barriers with doorways cut into them that were set up in the busiest outdoor covered hallway, oftentimes couldn't use our office building (which is where the office scenes at the school were filmed), the front of the school, the service road (which was where they took the bus from to state), the football field/dirt track, the PE area (where they drank at the water fountain when the Diaz boys weren't there), and many other places. We could even hear them yelling "McFarland!" while we were in classes. I also remember that the day we heard Kevin Costner was there, my English teacher, Ms. Hill (a 5' nothing, 65 year old black woman) ran out of class as soon as the bell rang for nutrition and ran halfway across campus just to meet one of her favorite actors. That was a major feat, given that the halls were extremely congested for months because they left up the wooden structures.
In general, the entire student body was annoyed with the intrusion into our education for a movie about a track team?! Everyone thought it was dumb. (I didn't learn that it was actually about a cross country team until I sat down to watch the movie.) Given that the sport of choice at Cleveland was football, nobody was happy in the slightest. Then, we learned that it was about a Latino team dealing with racism in the sport, and most students were ok with it again, given that Cleveland is also located in a predominantly Latino area, and the majority of the student body reflects that, so everyone understood. Additionally, my brother ran track and cross country throughout middle and high school, so watching this movie with my family also added another layer to it because we recognized the places that the team ran as places my brother ran.
Given that I had so much bias against it because they filmed it at my school, it really says a lot that McFarland, USA ended up being a lot better than I expected it to be. It's pretty wholesome, even though it deals with serious subjects at times, like racism and the lives of pickers. It's also got moments of hilarity. All in all, not a bad way to spend a couple hours.