It's California during the 80's and Kevin Costner arrives in decrepit McFarland for the simple reason that no one else will hire him to teach random children to play football. After knocking heads with the guy who played Deke Slayton in Apollo 13, Costner randomly decides to start a track team and make them champions so that another/better school will hire him and he can escape from the hellfire of McFarland USA. He executes his plan by picking a random group of kids, including a "fat" one--luckily each can run 5k in under 17 minutes without any training. Speaking of training, Costner has his team do hill work by running over epic mounds of plastic-bag covered almonds. After one workout they appear to defeat every other team at a track meet and capture the state championship.
The script is barely passable, though the acting is alright [note: casting the girl from Homeland?!]. There are a few moments in the film but overall I get the feeling that we're supposed to really dislike anyone who competes against the film's protagonists; these 'bad guys' are conveniently smug and, as far as runners go, uncharacteristically arrogant and elitist... making one wonder if the makers of the film had ever met a runner. Instead of revelling in the triumph of athletic achievement of the McFarland runners, the filmmakers use running as a vehicle to make a point a political point.
Release date: February 20, 2015 (Canada)
Director: Niki Caro
Running time: 2h 9m
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