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.

| Dec 17, 2015

Niki Caro uses every device at her disposal to make a rousing, feelgood movie but risks turning the film into a glorified fairytale in the process.

| Sep 25, 2015

McFarland, USA is a modern anomaly — a Kevin Costner sports movie that’s genuinely rousing.

| Sep 24, 2015

Kiwi director Niki Caro, best known for the Maori fable Whale Rider, makes underdog stories you keep wanting to get behind, and Costner's born-again-good-guy routine doesn't disappoint.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 24, 2015

You run with it, just.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 24, 2015

The kids are a likeable bunch and Costner, as ever, imbues the hooey with enough gravitas to make you care.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 23, 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.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5 | Feb 26, 2015

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.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 23, 2015

In ways large and small, McFarland USA recognizes the problems inherent in the "white savior" premise and does what it can to address them, to surprisingly affecting ends.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 23, 2015

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.

| Feb 21, 2015

One of Kevin Costner's finest performance... A well-told story told that is full of heart

| Feb 20, 2015

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.

| Feb 20, 2015

[Costner] could have sailed through this film but he gives his role an ingrained orneriness and melancholy that lifts the entire enterprise.

| Original Score: B- | Feb 20, 2015

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 20, 2015

It's all a bit much.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 20, 2015

Yes, it's a bit corny and convenient at times, but there's an admiration here for hard work, ambition and battling adversity that overrides cynicism. "McFarland, USA" is a good film about good people; nothing wrong with that.

| Original Score: B | Feb 20, 2015

There are good things to say about the inspirational Disney sports film McFarland, USA, starting with its up-from-the-scrap-heap story, which happens to be true.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 20, 2015

It took a village of fine performers to depict this close-knit town. And the list is too long to give a shoutout to everyone.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 19, 2015

The actors who play the young runners are a mixed bag of Hollywood unknowns and actual McFarland locals, all of whom are engaging.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 19, 2015

[It] aims to be rousing rather than revelatory, and it mostly succeeds.

| Feb 19, 2015