Fast Times at McFarland High

Rating: 7/10 (20 September 2015)

A job of a film based on a true story is not to tell everything exactly how it is, in fact, much of McFarland USA is fibbed to a certain extent. But to me, that's perfectly fine. McFarland, USA is a very entertaining movie even with its historical inaccuracies. Disney consistently puts out these under the radar sports films. Plus, you can't really go wrong with Kevin Costner starring in a sports film anyway.
It tells the story of a underdog Latino cross country team from McFarland, California coached by a white male coincidentally named James White. You get pretty much every cliché in the books in terms of sports films. The family issues of too much commitment to the sport, trust issues with their coach, and the dramatic left turn in the 3rd act. But clichéd films can still be good if handled correctly, and McFarland, USA most definitely was. I was surprised by the acting from pretty much unknown actors across the board, aside from Costner and Maria Bello. There's also a good amount of culture blending between White's family and the Latino families that predominately populated the city. Although most of the family issues that were going on seemed more like plot devices than anything else, I enjoyed watching the families come together for a Quinceañera and to cheer on their McFarland team.
The film tries and tackle a different issue with each of the teams members and while most of them work dramatically on their own, it didn't seem like it tonally fit in with the rest of the picture. But I can't peak highly enough on how much I dug Costner's speeches throughout the film. I've seen many sports films with a ton of great speeches, but these hang up there with the great ones.
I'm not sure how much of the behind the scenes issues with the coach being recruited were factual, but I can say that I don't think they were really necessary. I think the ending has enough gravitas to hold its own without having that hang over the fate of the team. I'm also not too sure on why the subtle romance was necessary as it felt really awkward throughout. The movie has an emotionally satisfying ending that I think I can forgive some of its mistakes.
+Costner's performance & speeches
+Family aspect
+Emotionally satisfying
+Music
-Awkward romance
-Few far-fetched moments and clichés
7.1/10