Name : Michael Phillips / Alias : Chicago Tribune
A less talented and more shameless director might've turned it into cornmeal mush, but Niki Caro ("Whale Rider") has delivered unto the Disney corporation a Kevin Costner sports movie that works.

Name : Kenneth Turan / Alias : Los Angeles Times
A canny combination of elements unites with an unlikely true story to make this more effective than you might be expecting.

Name : John Hartl / Alias : Seattle Times
Based on the lives of several cross-country runners whose success story began in 1987, the script is crowded with scenes that ring true and rarely stray into conventional exposition.

Name : Lisa Kennedy / Alias : Denver Post
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.

Name : Richard Roeper / Alias : Chicago Sun-Times
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.

Name : Rafer Guzman / Alias : Newsday
Better than you might think, thanks to strong work from Costner and a cast of fresh faces.

Name : J. R. Jones / Alias : Chicago Reader
At this point the inspirational coach drama has become as ritualistic as the Catholic mass, but it's also developed an admirable social agenda of breaking down racial divisions, which is exemplified by this heartwarming Disney release.

Name : David Ehrlich / Alias : Time Out
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.

Name : Stephen Whitty / Alias : Newark Star-Ledger
The movie can risk being patronizing, at times. And boy, is it manipulative. But all art is manipulative, in some way. And maybe being manipulated to have a little hope isn't such a bad thing after all.

Name : Alan Scherstuhl / Alias : Village Voice
The film's well made, well acted, and sometimes beautiful.

Name : Andrew Lapin / Alias : NPR
Yes, there's a formula. Yes, it's corny. But running is about the journey, not the destination, and Disney sports movies don't know how to quit until everyone has crossed the finish line. Bless them for it.

Name : Tom Long / Alias : Detroit News
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.

Name : Joe Neumaier / Alias : New York Daily News
"McFarland, USA" invokes an old sports movie trope: the inspiring coach and his noble, suffering team. But the good intentions can't help it sprint past cliche.

Name : James Berardinelli / Alias : ReelViews
McFarland USA has a distinction in that it's the rare sports movie directed by a woman. Caro's perspective is invaluable to the film's trajectory.

Name : A.O. Scott / Alias : New York Times
[It] aims to be rousing rather than revelatory, and it mostly succeeds.

Name : Justin Chang / Alias : Variety
Where the picture excels is as a straightforward sports drama, and Caro delivers the satisfactions of the genre with unfussy verve.

Name : Wesley Morris / Alias : Grantland
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.

Name : Stephanie Merry / Alias : Washington Post
You've seen feel-good football and baseball movies, plus great underdog stories of boxing, basketball, soccer and cycling. So what's left?

Name : James Rocchi / Alias : TheWrap
A feel-good movie that earns all those good feelings, "McFarland, USA" might be running on a predetermined track, but the heart it shows along the journey is what makes it a winner.

Name : Claudia Puig / Alias : USA Today
The premise may sound obvious and potentially forced, but it comes off as authentic.

Name : Bilge Ebiri / Alias : New York Magazine/Vulture
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.

Name : Bill Goodykoontz / Alias : Arizona Republic
Caro's direction, Costner's performance and the winning cast, along with the shining of a sliver of light on the plight of field workers, however thin that sliver may be, combine to make "McFarland" a much better movie than it has any right to be.

Name : Sara Stewart / Alias : New York Post
Given the film's Disney stamp, you can see the feel-good coming a mile away, though the plot's never fleshed out enough to really distinguish it within the underdog-team genre.

Name : Peter Travers / Alias : Rolling Stone
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.

Name : Brad Wheeler / Alias : Globe and Mail
It's all a bit much.

Name : Linda Barnard / Alias : Toronto Star
Based on the true story of a fledgling high school cross country team from an economically depressed Latino community, McFarland neatly delivers an uncomplicated, heartwarming message.

Name : Tom Russo / Alias : Boston Globe
Kevin Costner's signature knack for sports movies does little to buoy a stilted culture-clash dynamic.

Name : Mick LaSalle / Alias : San Francisco Chronicle
"McFarland, USA" could have been a sentimental film, but it's not, because Caro and the screenwriters bothered to know what that they were talking about.

Name : Stephen Farber / Alias : Hollywood Reporter
While the beats of the story are often stock, the picture benefits from sensitive direction by New Zealander Niki Caro and from a most appealing performance by Kevin Costner.

Name : Jesse Hassenger / Alias : AV Club
Caro keeps the material picturesque, respectful, and respectable-without crossing the line into real inspiration.

Name : Peter Rainer / Alias : Christian Science Monitor
[Costner] could have sailed through this film but he gives his role an ingrained orneriness and melancholy that lifts the entire enterprise.

Name : Steven Rea / Alias : Philadelphia Inquirer
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.

Name : Joe Morgenstern / Alias : Wall Street Journal
If they gave Oscars for overcoming mechanical plotting and perfunctory dialogue, Mr. Costner would be this year's shoo-in.