There is a joke on the Internet: "Dream still has to be, what if one day it comes true?" This seemingly joke is applicable in many places. One has to have a dream in order to realize the dream. Sometimes dreams are even built on blanks, just like the story told in this film, it is completely a picture of a dream drawn on a blank sheet of paper. The key is that this dream has come true.
I first noticed Kevin Costner in "Draft Day". He was introverted and powerful in this one-day condensed film on Draft Day. It can be said that one person supported the film for most of the day. So when I saw him in this McFarlane, aka Dream Cross Country movie, I had high hopes. Sure enough, the film lived up to my expectations. As a standard sports inspirational + immigrant inspirational movie, it ignited my passion.
The film is a little more than 2 hours long, but the overall editing is compact and the plot is clear, without exaggeration or escapism. In just a few minutes at the beginning, Kevin explained the reasons why he fell from a high-end community to this immigrant town. This episode is similar to the plot of the protagonist's family relocating to California in "Inside Out". Given the release time of the movie, it is unknown that "Inside Out" has learned from it.
The character in Kevin's film is named Jim White. This surname is also very funny. The white surname is Bai, no wonder his surname is ridiculed by children.
McFarland is located in a small town inhabited by Latinos in California. Jim, who first arrived in McFarland, was taken aback by the local residents. The single tacos in the fast food restaurant, the novel modified fleet outside the store, and the seemingly dangerous car owners , The owner of the grocery store for more than 20 years, this lonely town does not look friendly. Jim backed off on the first day, wanting to get out of here and find somewhere else.
The situation at the school made Jim even more disappointed. Although I had done a lot of psychological preparation before, but from a football coach to a sports assistant in a small town, no one could cheer up. The first half of the film is filled with such a desperate, suffocating mood. At this time, people can't help but start to question whether this American economic concept is appropriate? A middle-class family relies on one person's work. When the work is successful, the whole family is happy. Once the work encounters difficulties, the whole family will be forced to move to other places, and the living standard will suddenly drop to the pre-liberation level. The social security system is so sound, and people are so embarrassed. If there is no such social security system, hehe, how can we live?
Inspirational movies have also spent a lot of effort in order to mobilize people's emotions to the extreme. The miserable foreshadowing at the beginning, let people see no hope. At this time, the little female teacher persuaded Jim to let us really feel the real situation of McFarland: children were born ready to be harvesters. High school is the best time of their lives, and after high school, they will devote themselves to this industry that requires a lifetime of hard work. Their life is a cycle of work, and their future is their father's today.
Sometimes when you help others, you are actually helping yourself. I often think about why those kind-hearted people give their all to help those who don’t need it, but when I slowly realized it, I realized that sometimes, helping people, the effort is far less than the gain. To give is better than to receive. While helping others, you are also helping yourself. If Jim just let himself go down like this, his life would be as bleak as it is now. But fortunately, Jim met children who were talented in running. It was his perseverance that led to the formation of a cross-country team, and it was the first time that the children could experience hope and dream for the first time. While Jim changed the lives of his children, he also changed his own. And this quiet town is also boiling for the "McFarland-Puma" team. The dust is flying, no longer running for life, but cheering for the common hope of the town.
The plot of the whole film is neat and neat, and the director's just right sensationalism adds a lot to the film. Long-distance running can be the most boring and tedious of all sports, no team, no partner, repeated running routes, boring training day after day. It is also difficult to attract people with such a boring movement on the screen. But this film not only made running interesting, but also created an inspiring cross country run team (like off-road vehicles, but also knew the meaning of cross-country for the first time). Running such a single-player competition has become a team competition. In addition to individual skills, cooperation and help between teams are also very important. I was fortunate enough to come across such a film, so that the ignorant I also learned some common sense.
There are not many laughs in the film, but it can make people laugh:
When Jim first called, the three brothers had the same name, haha.
In the same family of three brothers, Jim wanted to convince their father to let the children continue to run. He mistakenly thought that his father could not speak English and asked the child to help translate the paragraph, hahaha!
When Jim begged the shopkeeper to help with the bar mitzvah, the shopkeeper looked at him calmly: We're not chiefs, we're Indians. We just sit. Although I don't understand the meaning of this sentence, the comedy effect is still good.
There are many touching places in the film, and the most impressive are four times:
For the first time, the kids finished fourth in the race to qualify for the Tournament, and were finally able to compete in the State Tournament. The other team members shouted when they got their results. Only these 7 children, when they heard the news, formed a circle with their heads next to each other, and made ten with their hands on their chests. They were praying and thanking them. Everyone watched their simple ceremony in silence. Blood ties and religions have crossed thousands of mountains and rivers but have not been erased.
The second time the kids qualified for the state tournament, the coach and the kids were silent along the way, but there must have been waves deep inside. The coach swerved abruptly at the intersection and ran towards the sea. The caretaker (also a cameo, unfortunately didn't remember the uncle's name) looked at the Latinas in the school bus with eager eyes, and made an exception to let them enter the beach for free. The children who saw the sea for the first time jumped into the sea with excitement. That moment, even without the sequel, was perfect.
The third time, three minutes before the tournament, Jim was still torn between this school and another high school, but his heart for the kids couldn't be ignored. I can only now appreciate the power of speaking, sometimes in just a few minutes, to lift low morale. Jim told the kids their own stories, qualifications that pampered, uniform white kids didn't have. Their harvest from morning to night is not their suffering, but a kind of wealth that they have conquered others. How can children who grew up under such difficult conditions lose to others. They don't have to feel inferior for their poor background, on the contrary, they have more perseverance than others to win the game. At that moment, these words made me ashamed, and I am still sad for the hard life of these immigrant descendants, starting at the age of 11, getting up before 5 am every morning, and continuing after school, harvesting under the hot sun. At the time, they never thought that this is precisely their excellent quality of hard work and hard work, and it is their best performance in the company of life rather than confrontation. Salute to all those who have the courage to give in their lives!
The fourth time, during the game, Little Fatty ran leisurely at the back of the team, and suddenly found that his brother Jose was left behind and could not make it to the top five. He accumulated a lot of money, and actually started to accelerate and sprint calmly. This last place who was always ridiculed by everyone, showed his strength at a critical moment. With steady footwork, he successfully filled the vacancy of Jose and became a team. The key to winning first place.
In just over two hours of viewing experience, my blood boiled and my thoughts were full of thoughts. The once ingrained conclusion of "developed limbs and simple mind" has always been regarded as the truth by me, but more and more experiences and the baptism of many sports and sports inspirational videos have made me start to reflect and admire these for dreams and for certain things. People who devote themselves to sports, they pay far more than "mind workers". I will encourage my children and learn from them.
Compared with the Chinese, Americans seem enthusiastic and unrestrained. And this comparison is between white Americans and Latinos, but Latinos are more enthusiastic and unrestrained. The Latin descendants of MacFarlane lived in poverty and worked hard day and night, but they could not see sadness and loneliness in their expressions. On the contrary, they and they were not only willing to accept life, but also to find joy in suffering. Their enthusiasm for life and the material things that life gives them are vastly different. It can be seen that enthusiasm has nothing to do with material life. If you are full of enthusiasm for life at any time, then when your dream comes, you can be fully prepared and ready to meet all changes.
Find and build your dream for yourself, and one day it will come true!
No matter how difficult it is, don’t worry about how late it is, dreams must come true.
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