Oh sure, we can all walk into a sports movie and practically predict the final outcome (most of the time), but this a Disney sports movie! We know a little better than that. It’s the same basic simple formula about a ragtag team of underdogs distinctly trying to beat the odds (which are, of course, against said team), and then throughout the movie, there are moments of striking inspiration. It’s a tactic that always works, never fails. This time, however, it’s not the big bang schultz of Friday night lights or buzzer beaters; it’s about cross country. And while it’s not necessarily an instant classic, McFarland, USA has more than enough to be a nice alternative when looking at other high-profile sports dramas.

The film follows the true story of Jim White (yes, his name really was White) and how he led one of the poorest towns in America (McFarland) to state victory in the cross country finals in 1987. Kevin Costner plays White, the down-on-his-luck (recently-fired) shabby football coach looking for what’s next. He finds an assistant coach position at McFarland High, a predominantly Latino community in one of the roughest neighborhoods of central California, a town that prospers on hard work with very little money keeping it going. Once he arrives, White finds that football likely won’t get him anywhere (as he has differences in opinion than the head coach of that program). White finds the answer in cross country, a sport of stability and mentality, enlisting the help (by any means necessary) of seven students to show the truth that champions can come from anywhere.

Kevin Costner is great as the grizzled (if not so grizzly) head coach, Jim White. I mean, Costner is, in truth, born to play these roles; he is solid as a rock. Jim’s transition from assistant football coach to forming a cross country team, while learning the sport with the students he recruits, is just as predictable as the final outcome. But my goodness, if you can’t help but root for these kids every step of the way, even if you’re just watching a recreation of events from 1987. The screenwriters and director, Niki Caro (Whale Rider), do a nice job at explaining the basic fundamentals of cross country without bogging down the audience’s mentality along the way. For me, being a former cross country runner, I felt they encaptured the spirit of the sport wholeheartedly and finally introduced the world to a sport less recognized. There are not bottom of the ninths or Hail Mary’s, but the film’s climactic race is an equal counterpart that, in essence, stands its own as a movie about running and the true basics of your character.

The film also spends a great deal of time adhering not just to the white man pulling into town, but also to the multi generation of Latino families which is crucial to the telling of this story. We get a glimpse into these folks’ lives, like their back-breaking jobs at 4:30 a.m. picking whatever they need to in nearby fields to get by. The film balances that sense of community while introducing us to a new side of the country with which, perhaps, most people aren’t familiar.

McFarland, USA had enough working against it for me to find ways to dissipate how simple and obligatory the film plays out. However, I can’t, nor would I wish to. Having that sense of a team with the bondage of family is a theme that resonates throughout. From Costner’s leadership and the strikingly real performances of all those taken place inside this movie, I walked out with a better sense of something I already knew I had: culture. Grade: A-