“Mighty Macs” is a based-on-a-true-story underdog sports drama and every once in a while, it’s good to see a movie that’s uplifting – even if it is predictable. Carla Gugino plays Cathy Rush, a first-time coach who takes over a small college women’s basketball team and, with relentless practices that sometimes border on abusive, shows its players how to win. Mother St. John (Ellen Burstyn), the head of Pennsylvania’s Immaculata College, is more worried about keeping the institution open than about properly outfitting and equipping a basketball team. The young nun who becomes Cathy’s assistant, Sister Sunday (Marley Shelton), has her faith restored as they work with the squad, nicknamed the ‘Mighty Macs.’ The team is the usual mix of odd personalities, but writer-director Tim Chambers shortchanges them by resorting to clichés instead of developing their characters. And David Boreanaz (star of the Fox show Bones) plays Cathy’s husband, but his character is so thinly drawn that you wonder why he’s there at all. Nonetheless, you’ll love seeing nuns shouting basketball strategy from courtside and cheering the girls on to victory. And the updates on the team’s players that flash by at the end emphasizes why this is a sports story that deserves to be told.
Note: Cathy Rush was head women’s basketball coach at Immaculata from 1972-1977. She led the Mighty Macs to three consecutive national titles from 1972-1974. They appeared in six consecutive final four appearances in her six seasons with the school, with a 149-15 record. Rush was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on April 7, 2008.
1 comment:
I guess I must be an old "softy" because this movie had me in tears much of the way! I thoroughly enjoyed this combination of "Rocky" and "Hoosiers". For me it scored 3 1/2 hoops!!
Post a Comment