PG | 1h 52m | Sports, Drama, Coming of Age | April 12, 2024
“The Long Game” is based on a true story. But, since that story comes out of a novel titled “Mustang Miracle” (Humberto G. Garcia) instead of a history book, it’s not entirely clear what details are true.
One thing is clear. Instead of the “systemic racism” being bandied about by today’s leftists, which is poison currently being injected into America by the long arm of the Chinese Communist Party, and which is intended to divide and conquer—“The Long Game” portrays the prejudice that obstructed opportunities in the 1950s. It also portrays a culture that celebrates excellence. That’s a far cry from today’s culture that celebrates mediocracy, promotes equality of outcome, and champions preferential treatment—based on race.
But it’s now been 70 years worth of America’s various races getting to know each other’s cultures via movies, music, church, books, cooking, dance, being teammates, next-door neighbors, going to war together, sitting in 12-step recovery rooms together, intermarrying, interracially adopting, and last but not least, talking up a storm via Marshall McLuhan’s prophesied Global Village—the Internet.
In 2024, America has long-since become the melted-pot nation of Scandinasian-Americans, Japanic-Americans, Chinegro-Americans, Jewlattos, Blactinos, Jewminicans, Hispasians, and Gelattos. What’s a Gelatto? Half-Italian, half-black, like Vin Diesel. Millions of middle and high schoolers—including blue-blood American prep-schooling distant relatives of the British monarchy—cheerfully call each other the watered-down N-word without entirely being aware of its history. That’s maybe not the healthiest of situations, but America is one massive, crazy, patchwork-quilt family by now, and the CCP is not going to tear up our hard-partying, fun-loving USA that can still stack Olympic gold like Fort Knox.
“The Long Game” is a Mexicans-vs.-an-all-white-golf-club story. In Del Rio, Texas, 1956, five Mexican-American high school students from San Felipe High formed the Mustangs golf team. This historical drama where teenage underdogs go up against the racism and prejudice-emboldened white antagonists, features adult bullying and rich-kid cheaters who unintentionally provide friction for the budding golfers to find a way to prevail.
Coaching Staff
First up, we meet World War II Army vet JB Peña (Jay Hernandez) and his lovely wife Lucy (Jaina Lee Ortiz), as they move into town. JB’s still got some PTSD flashbacks from his combat days. JB is to become superintendent of the local, all-Latino high school. He’s looking forward to the job, and he’s good with high school kids. He’s also obsessed with golf: He stays up late, whacking great drives into an old mattress propped up against his car.JB wants more than anything to become a member of the nearby, all-white Del Rio Country Club, which boasts the area’s only golf course. In 1955? Yeah. Sure. That’ll happen.
The only brown-skinned Latinos allowed in are caddies, groundskeepers, and waitstaff. The most exemplary is groundskeeper Pollo (Cheech Marin, of Cheech and Chong fame) who wears a chicken-wire cage over his head and torso to avoid getting cold-cocked by an errant golf drive. He functions as Latino golf-elder, dispensing shaman-wisdoms such as, “No one can stop a man who can get out of a bunker.”
JB’s brother-in-arms from the 141st regiment, Frank Mitchell (Dennis Quaid), happens to be the club’s teaching pro. JB thought Frank’s ringing endorsement would make him a shoo-in, but the club’s director (Richard Robichuax) and senior member (Brett Cullen) slam the door on JB’s entry, based on heritage, skin color, and the fact that it would be much too upsetting for the white members. JB’s allowed on the Del Rio course only as Frank’s guest.
The Team
JB discovers young Joe Trevino’s (Julian Works) golfing talent when Joe, on a dare (playing with his classmates from San Felipe) smashes JB’s windshield from a significant distance. These five high schoolers are also caddies at Del Rio, who have painstakingly landscaped for themselves their own little golf course in the outback, on harsh, South Texas brushlands. Here, they practice incessantly with golf clubs discarded by Del Rio members.JB realizes he can hit two birds with one golf ball. As a golfing fanatic, if he coaches up a championship high school golf team, it might score him that Del Rio membership. As an educator, mentor, and initiator of boys into manhood—handing down golf skills, getting the boys on actual, manicured courses, and helping them formulate life goals—would be the best of all outcomes.
JB enlists the initially skeptical Frank to help him coach. When Frank sees the meticulously DIY-landscaped golf course the boys have manufactured with blood, sweat, and tears, he says (naturally) “You can call me coach.”
Lessons
“The Long Game” plays out pretty much the way we expect an underdog sports drama to. Writer-director Julio Quintana enjoys telling heartening melodramas about hope—it’s a style that parallels the faith-based genre, but isn’t specifically religious. The “San Felipe Mustangs” prevail in getting on the Del Rio course, compete for the Texas State Championship, all the while dealing with the perennial setbacks, humiliation, and derision.“The Long Game” title has meta reference: While hotheaded, angry young Joe often opts for the short game—immediately butting heads with injustice violently rather than tactfully—coach JB is playing the long game, that is, submitting in the present to injustices in order to slowly gain traction, eventually win the respect of the largely openly racist golf establishment, and be in a position to pull ahead later. Deference is shown to be humiliating, but often wise, and the key lesson is that such an act requires an uncommonly powerful ability to forbear. That’s ultimately noble.
Wrap Up
The script gives Joe’s character a high school love interest (Paulina Chávez) and Joe’s father Adelio (Jimmy Gonzales) is mortified with embarrassment because his son is playing a white man’s sport. A photo of the real Mustang team is shown at the end, revealing classic aesthetics-based Hollywood shellacking of what was, in real life, a rougher crew of boys. Which lets us also know that the American Doowop-heavy soundtrack was, in real life, more likely Tex-Mex (Tejano) music. That’s my only criticism—there should have been more Tejano in the soundtrack.“The Long Game” is a fine team-telling, involving several instances and forms of the long games of life. Modern audiences may possibly not agree with some of the long game strategies for winning, but “The Long Game” demonstrates in satisfying ways how nothing can stop individuals who have spent time practicing how to get out of bunkers.
