traditional underdog movie

Rating: 6/10 (20 July 2015)

It's 1987. Jim White (Kevin Costner) is struggling to coach high school football in Boise, Idaho. He throws a shoe near a disrespectful player and it ricochets bloodying him. He and his wife Cheryl (Maria Bello) move to McFarland, California with their two daughters. It's a lower class Latino area and the only teaching job he could get. He gets kicked out as assistant football coach in the first week. He notices that some of the kids have potential as runners.
Kevin Costner can do the hard angry white guy in his sleep now. There are some pretty interesting young actors among the Latino kids. It's an inspirational based-on-a-true-story. It follows the traditional underdog formula. They have to face the obvious racism and all the expected hurdles. There isn't much drama. There are a few funny moments. There are opportunities to dig a lot deeper. The incident with Julie could be expanded on. Instead the movie does a little before and after. The heart of the incident and the reason for it are never fully explained. There is also the problem of filming running as a sport. The film does it the best that they can but the calculating process makes it less dramatic. This is a perfectly fine sports movie.