Athletic drama. G. 1 hour, 40 minutes. At area theaters.
There’s something irresistible about a Cinderella story in sports.
“The Mighty Macs” tells us of the glory days of Immaculata University’s women’s basketball team. This tiny Catholic school for women dominated the sport at a turning point in history, and this old-fashioned sports drama tells the tale with heart and wit.
Carla Gugino plays Cathy Rush, the only candidate to apply for the job of coach at the then-struggling school. Her salary is a pittance, the uniforms are dresses better suited to field hockey, they’re down to their last basketball and last dollars, and the gym just burned down. The Rev. Mother (Ellen Burstyn) lectures Rush on just how little money there is.
It’s 1971, and the bra-burning corner of the women’s movement hasn’t impacted this suburban Philadelphia school. When Coach Rush nags her players to dive for the ball, “This is soooooo unladylike” is the response she gets. She has to convince them to set their sights higher than a “Mrs.” degree.
Tim Chambers’ film, completed in 2009, is subtle in the ways it suggests the revolution that this team was a part of. Women dunk — now. They can aspire to become pro athletes. But then, a whole society was changing. When a player cracks about her coach, “She already has a husband. Why would she want to work?” that’s a reminder of how far the country has come.
The Mighty Macs don’t go anywhere we don’t expect them to. But for families with girls, the film has a message they can never hear too often: “Have the courage to follow your dreams.”
