The Mighty Macs (2011)

Just so...so bad

disgusting, overrated, pointless

Absolutely Fantastic

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It's 1971 at the all-girls Immaculata College outside of Philidelphia. Mother St. John (Ellen Burstyn) hires Cathy Rush (Carla Gugino) to be the basketball coach. There is no real money, the gym burnt down, and the college is threatened to be sold off. Cathy's NBA ref husband Ed Rush (David Boreanaz) wants her to be more of a housewife. The rules have recently changed to allow the girls play the men's game. Sister Sunday (Marley Shelton) becomes the assistant. The girls struggle with loss after loss until Cathy molds them into a championship team.This is formulaic but that's no problem for a formulaic sports movie. It's endearing in its own way. The major missing element is a bigger part for one of the players performed by a bright young star. The girls are more or less blanks except for a couple scenes. They are played by relative unknowns and they don't excel. On the other hand, Carla Gugino is great. The big emotional scene of the girl silently weeping in the van after a lost is very good. However, none of the games nor the story are terribly surprising or exciting. The story is fit for a sincere feel-good telling and this does it in a very standard way.

First let me confess, I fell in love with Carla Gugino in the first 'Spy Kids' movie. She is absolutely beautiful and she can act, too!Here she is Cathy Rush , only 23 and just married. Her husband is an NBA referee thus travels a lot. Cathy had played some basketball but no coaching experience. To give her something to do, rather than just stay home when her husband was on the road, she applied for the girls basketball coaching job at a small Catholic girls college in the Philadelphia area. This is the true story of how she took this rag-tag bunch of girls, taught them principles of achievement, and went on to establish a winning basketball program.David Boreanaz is her husband, Ed Rush. Pretty Marley Shelton (of 'Pleasantville' fame) is Sister Sunday who is having grave doubts about her vocation, but becomes the assistant coach. Ellen Burstyn is super as the mother superior of the college, Mother St. John .The DVD also has an interesting extra which includes not only the real Cathy Rush but also some of the members of her early 1970s championship basketball teams.Aside from just a good story, Cathy Rush and her teams represented the leading wave of the transition from the old style girls basketball (3 forwards and 3 guards, each set only playing half-court) to the new style that we know today.Good movie!

"It will take an act of God to save this school." Cathy Rush (Gugino)is a modern woman in the '70's. Her husband is not working and rather then staying home she decided to go out and get a job coaching at a local all girls catholic school. With no gym, uniforms, a school about to close and a lack of talent she does her best to make the team better then it ever thought it could. I should tell you right off that I am a sucker for sports movies. I will watch pretty much any movie about sports. Most of the sports movies that come out lately are true stories and to me that makes them better. This one is about a small catholic girls school that went from no gym to trying to win the national championship. Not only is this inspiring but it really makes you feel for what the girls had to go through to get there. This is one of the better sports movies I have seen and I highly recommend this to everyone...not just girls. Overall, a great family movie that any parent with a high school girl who is unsure of herself should watch. I give it an A.

The Mighty Macs is a movie that you can bring all of the family to without any worries. You get a view of Catholic Sisters that is truly humorous yet respectful. Although this is the story of Immaculata College's girls basketball team, it is the story of us all. The story of Cathy Rush and Immaculata College is something we can and should relate to - push for your dreams and you will achieve them. Those who dare to dream can make a difference in their own life and the lives of those around them. Do you believe in your dreams? Maybe the story of The Mighty Macs will inspire you to shoot for your goals. Great acting, great action, and an inspiring story with a positive message make this a win, win. Just go see it!