McFarland seems to be off the beaten track with its dust, long fields, and pickers out in the early morning rush to make a living from the vegetation gardens. But this is life outside of the city that for any city dweller would be a bit of a culture shock. With a favourable eye on the community, Whale Rider’s Niki Caro directs proceedings in this Walt Disney drama production that exudes warmth and is not humourless. McFarland looks like a good place to live and get to know people going by the presentation here, while their hard-working lives, and the issues they face, isn’t swept under the carpet, and coach Jim White’s entrance into the town is fraught with teething problems, all coated in a wholesome, Walt Disney-ish glow. McFarland’s high school cross country team were underdogs until coach Jim White took them under his wing and exploited their athletic potential to the point of state-wide success. Played by Kevin Costner, White, as he was affectionately referred to by his down-to-earth, self-aware runners, is portrayed as a struggling yet doggedly determined mastermind behind the team’s rise. Watching it all happen on the screen elevates this minor league film to radiant success.

I’ve been watching the court room thriller Presumed Innocent (1990) on television which had the bonus of starring Harrison Ford and Raul Julia and helmed by director Alan J. Paulka who seems to be no slouch. But although it’s a B-grade thriller, it turns out to say something haunting and powerful: there is not only a criminal punishment when it comes to crime and wrongdoing but a human punishment. When a husband betrays his wife with an affair, and if she knows, the wife is punished in her thoughts and emotions by her husband’s unfaithfulness. The husband is later accused of the murder of his mistress, but will the husband become emotionally punished by what the wife reveals to him about what she’s done? There is a human toll when one violates another human being somehow—the law is there to prevent wrongdoing and punish wrongdoers but also to prevent heartbreak.