svikasha McFarland, USA is a city in California that to this day has a sizable Hispanic population, many of whom work as migrant farm workers picking crops. "McFarland" is a film that tells the story of Coach White, a passionate coach who gets fired from his football coaching gig at a wealthy high school when he escalates a fight between him and his players to violence. The wealthy high school football players seemed more concerned about the after party than the game. Athletics for these players is a prestige thing that has nothing to do with sportsmanship. After a series of disrespectful actions, Coach White snaps and subsequently gets fired. But as Coach White reflects later to another coach when he arrives at his new school, "It's not the fight in the dog coach, it's the dog in the fight...depends on the size of the dog...".Coach White moves to Cliff Avenue in a Hispanic neighborhood with his wife and two daughters. When he first arrives in the new neighborhood, one of his daughters questions if the family had ended up in Mexico. The Whites struggle at first to fit into their new neighborhood. Meanwhile, the high school students in the small Hispanic town of McFarland have their own struggle. Most of the students at MacFarland have jobs. Athletics isn't even an option for many of them because they come from the fields to go to school and run back to the fields when class gets outs. Many become adults in those very fields. Unless a prison gets to them first. It is a hard life which stands in stark contrast to the lives of Coach White's previous students. He begins to see the athletic potential in his hardworking students and questions the temporary nature of his transitory job as coach at MacFarland. In the classic Disney fashion, Coach White's new community welcomes him. His neighbor even plants him a tree and tells him, "in five years senor you're going to have some nice shade". The simple transitions in the film show the migrant worker's lives with Hispanic music in the background. The scenes are poetic. But the most beautiful part of the film is the raw determination of the high school students trying to compete in a sport and environment that sets them up for failure. A boy named Thomas Valles becomes a de facto leader of the team after Coach White catches the high school student running at 12 miles an hour. This same boy shows up to practice with bruises because he gets his dad to punch him instead of a wall since as a migrant worker his father needs his hands to work. It isn't until coach White works a whole day as a migrant worker himself, picking crops getting paid by the field instead of by the hour that he begins to understand the plight of his athletes. In the spirit of Stand and Deliver Coach White understands that he needs to go beyond his position as coach for these students. He begins to treat them like his own. During one scene, he rushes to a park without enough money for the entrance fee and tells the officer, "I've got five dollars and seven kids who have never seen the ocean". He brings his students to the beach. Eventually, McFarland becomes more than a temporary home for Coach White and his family. It becomes their community, one which adopts them as warmly as they adopted it. The family moments such as the father's speech at his daughters quinceañera will tug at your heartstrings. Coach White disproves Thomas Valles' initial belief that, "Nobody stays in McFarland unless they have to. Because there is nothing American dream about this place". This film is based off a true story and Coach White ended up at McFarland coaching at the town's high school long after better prospects opened up for him. By the end, Coach White recognizes that these kids at McFarland cherish cross country and athletics, something he admits is a privilege many take for granted.

bbewnylorac I like the idea of a film about how sport can transform lives. Kevin Costner does well as Coach White, who starts training a troubled group of Mexican boys in cross country running. The film makes beautiful use of light and makes the flat fields of southern California look stunning. The film is refreshing in portraying Anglos and Mexicans as trying to get along. The Mexicans might be poor, but their community is close and loving. There is lots of gentle humour and a bit of the coach being a fish out of water. But generally, the outcome of this movie is not really in doubt. But it's a well written and heartfelt movie, about teenagers trying to improve their lot in life. The message is, there is no way around working hard towards what you want to achieve, and doing your best. And the support of being in a team is amazing. Sure, it's a bit of a schmaltzy film at times, but it has moments of genuine inspiration.

SimonJack Hollywood has been good in one area a couple decades into the 21st century. It has turned out some very good sports films based on true stories. "McFarland, USA" is one. The movie was made by Disney in 2015, from a screenplay that was being developed since 2004. It's based on a true story of a high school teacher, Jim White, who made championship cross-country teams in the mid-1980s at a small California high school. The town of McFarland is in the farm area of central California, north of Bakersfield. The high school is largely Hispanic.Kevin Costner heads the cast as White, and all turn in fine performances. This is a very good drama, historical and biographical film. It is peppered with small doses of humor. The production qualities are superb. As with most such films, this one has been changed from fact to fiction in places. But, it tells a good story about a coach, a town and a high school team. Some of the fictional changes including White having been fired from different teaching jobs before going to McFarland. In reality, he began there in 1964 after he graduated from Pepperdine University. White taught different classes and grades until 1980 when he began coaching. When he noticed the speed of some of the kids, he decided to start cross-country running which the school had dropped the previous year. The film is just about the boys' team, but he started both boys and girls teams, and took both of them to the Cayucos beach during the 1985 season. White had three daughters, not two as in the movie. And they were older in real life. At the time of the cross-country championships, the girls were in college. The move was a hit and apparently led to increased interest in cross- country running in schools around the country. This is a good film that should be of special interest to young teens. Here are a couple of favorite lines from the film. Cheryl White, "Fourth place? That's not too shabby. Jim, "Four out of four – also known as last."Jim White, "Tell your father I said it was an honor to be invited into his home." David Diaz, "Dad, he said it was an honor to be invited into your home." Senor Diaz, "Tell him I said 'Thanks!'"

vimmiya Always true and success stories are inspirational. It drives people from common middle class background to have to dream and strive to reach for their ambition. Psychologically it makes us feel good that we hope to achieve something in our limited span of time in this cosmos.Few movies that made an impact for me are the likes of Pursuit of Happiness and Shawshank Redemption. The movie focuses on a semi- urban locality McFarland that is a habitat for the immigrants' population of US. Here their survival depends upon agricultural produce and is not uncommon to view children entering the labor force at a very young age. It is a boardroom management lesson – the character of Jim White. Call it circumstances or act of God he is supposed to train the students in American Foot Ball. It is public school where funding is a scarce resource and students less motivated to take up sports. All he understood was the children had a natural ability to run for their daily chores. He capitalized that aspect and trained them to their maiden 'Cross country race'. We always need to see opportunity within our limited resources. Allowing ourselves to be stagnate and complaining leads us to depression. Life is never going to be linear and all I saw from the movie whether a teacher / team Leader should be in a position to impart knowledge and show us something best from the better. The film will remain with me as an enjoyable and inspiration source. I give credit to the cast and crews' members making us understand their joys and sorrows, vulnerability and strength and finally inhibitions and liberation.