I headed to Penn Cinema to review the much-ballyhooed “Birdman”, which flew off with four Oscars to line the Fox Searchlight nest at the 87th Academy Awards ceremony. Spoiler alert: it will be a very short review, and not a pleasant one.

Praised almost unanimously for its continuous-shot cinematic style and intricate weaving of actors and dialogue throughout sets and scenes, “Birdman” was both offensive and annoying from the outset. With prolific profanity, vulgar references, and male nudity all within the first act of the film, “Birdman” didn’t merit my time let alone any golden statuettes. I walked out.

Instead I went to see “McFarland, USA,” a Disney film based on a true story of a team of Latino  cross-country runners who go the distance to make it to the California State Championships. In the film, Kevin Costner plays Coach White, a tantrum-throwing high school teacher and football coach whose career options become limited with each outburst.

White relocated to late-1980’s rural California for a job where he is to coach football, only to discover his team’s talent is better suited for track, not tackling. A cross-country team is formed for the first time in school history, and the Mexican-American athletes who work the fields with their families to make ends meet start training for their new sport.

Meanwhile, Costner’s Coach White needs training on how to parent teens, and after blowing off his daughter’s 15th birthday to put the runners through their paces, he lands in the family doghouse after he forgets to bring home her cake. White’s wife, played by Pennsylvania native Maria Bello, and his progeny, grow more distant as he logs miles on a bike alongside his team.

The McFarland students initially resent White, who earns their respect by working in the fields alongside team members. He turns the rag-tag team into winners, and his runner’s families go the extra mile to help him regain his daughter’s affection by throwing a redemptive quinceaneara for her.

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR “McFARLAND, USA” HERE:

Fans of lush landscapes in films will be startled by the dusty backdrop of the film’s sun-scarred Central California location. The rich terrain of “McFarland, USA” is found in the inner landscape of coach and students, family and community, where there is life despite external hardship, fear, and failure.

The ensemble cross-country cast is comprised of individually talented actors, real and convincing in their portrayal of the duality of lives as students with adult responsibilities of farm labor. White reframes the hardships of their “picker” experiences into a resource for running races against athletes from far more privileged circumstances.

A team of talented Latino actors turned in notable performances, including Carlos Pratts portrayal of Thomas Valles, the team’s star runner dealing with difficulties between him and his father, an itinerant worker recently returned home. Johnny Ortiz, Rafael Martinez, Hector Duran, Sergio Avelar, and Michael Aguero convincingly portrayed a team in transition.

The race scenes are well-paced and thoughtfully filmed, and viewers were led to care about the runners enough to root silently as they struggle up steep hills and wind their way around switchbacks.

Kudos to director Niki Caro, who takes the rich material of real-life hardship and digs into the script to yield a film that defies stereotypical representation of Latino family and community. She also demonstrated courage to include a scene showing the victorious McFarland team as they kneel in prayer together, a rare sight in films today.

With a powerful yet understated message the importance of cultural empathy to racial harmony, this is a film that represents the noblest achievement of film making. It is a family movie that merits award, attendance, and acclaim.

Go see “McFarland, USA” with your family while it’s still in the theaters. Show studios that discriminating viewers are willing to pay the price of admission for films of merit, otherwise a stream of vulgar, profane, and offensive films will continue to wind its continuous-shot way through the sets and scenes of Hollywood onto the big screen.

Don’t walk, but run to see “McFarland, USA,” and take your family with you.

Lynn Rebuck covers entertainment and everything else for LititzDailyNews.com. She welcomes your comments and questions at [email protected].