Here's a movie that should be disposable at best, and racially condescending at worst, and yet it sticks with you. It comes by its emotions honestly and wins you over.
The latest in a long line of condescendingly inspirational sports movies about a catalog Caucasian who learns that people of other races are also capable of being decent.
Like the best sports movies, McFarland, USA makes sure the action on the field is only one part of the cinematic spectrum. And in this case, it's a spectrum worth seeing.
Inspiration is for sale in here. And though more than a spoonful of sugar is slathered over the fact-based script, the movie delivers as promised on the thrill of the race and the lump in the throat.
Vox
December 17, 2015
What makes McFarland USA so successful, and so bracing, is the way that its protagonist becomes aware of something that is rarely broached in these sorts of narratives - his own privilege.
You fall for the kids playing the runners because Caro lets their souls come through in the bus rides and the race sequences and the shameless scenes of cabbage picking.
It could move a little faster and be a little less proud of its own progressiveness. But McFarland is a sports movie that knows what it's doing for the most part and ends strong.
Chicago Sun-Times
February 26, 2015
Yes, "McFarland USA" has the obligatory coda where we found out how everything played out for the coach and the key members of that 1987 team. You should stick around for that.
