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.

After a million years as an IMDb member I'm finally inspired to write a review. This movie is guileless and sweet in the most beautiful way. Not heavy-handed, no huge buildup over the races (in all aspects of the word), but rather huge focus on interpersonal relationships and the judgments every human makes about one another. There's also huge pride in the small working towns I've personally driven through on my way to somewhere else, and the seemingly small people whose backs we live off of. There is so much heart here. I'm surprised this is a Disney movie.Anyway, I believe love drives us. And this is such an affirmation of the different types of love and relationships that can push us in the best ways and help us achieve greatness. I'm so deeply pleased to have seen this film. Every one of us has a moment or period when we are down for the count. We don't always handle it with grace. That doesn't mean we are without grace.

Seriously, this movie busts out all the stereotypes, and it's still emotionally engaged and heartwarming—even after multiple viewings. Costner is in his element here, in a sports movie. He was always at his best in sports movies. The storyline is predictable, but you don't care when you watch—because it's an awesome feel-good story. The visuals are good, and even though you know where the story is going, the acting is good enough to make you care about the characters—specifically the boys on the team and their families. Certain scenes will bring a tear to your eye every time you watch, and the movie doesn't lose its grip on you until the credits run.The only real negative is the actress playing the older daughter; the writers had to make her into a 21st-century teenager instead of the 1980s teenager she should have been. Writers do this to make the film more relatable to a modern audience, but ... yeah. She's too good at being a brat, just like she was on the Showtime series she was in ("Homeland").

I had read the story of Jim White and the McFarland cross country team long before the movie came out. I was glad to see it made into a feature film, but Disney's heavy hands keep it from being fully satisfying.Most of the actors playing larger roles acquit themselves well. Yes, Kevin Costner is his overly familiar world-weary self, but there's always a certain charm in seeing him inhabit that role. Many of the young men portraying McFarland's runners are both charming and believable, and some of the quirky townspeople (such as the mother of three runners and the owner of the local variety store) add nice depth to the story.In addition, the scenery is interesting, from the running trails to the fields where the McFarland runners pick crops.One real turnoff was when, repeatedly, opposing runners were shown talking smack before the start of races, and opposing coaches made snarky comments about the McFarland team. I've coached youth sports for many years and am accustomed to seeing much better sportsmanship than that. The movie makers apparently needed to set up cartoonish villains so that the audience would root even harder for the good guys.Another clunker came at the first race, the "Palo Alto Invitational." The race director was surprised when McFarland showed up - but if it was an "invitational," then either they'd been invited (so he shouldn't have been surprised) or they hadn't been (in which case they had no business going to the race).This was a generally pleasant two hours, and it was good to know that the basic heartwarming events took place in real life. Could have been better (or at least less bad in some parts), but it was OK. I recommend you find the story "Running for Their Lives" by Gary Smith, the captivating real-life tale of Jim White and McFarland (told as only the brilliant Smith could).