When it comes to inspiring stories, nothing really tops an underdog sports narrative. The plucky team with aspirations for greatness. The odds are always stacked against them, but with one determined coach and a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps mentality, the team is able to overcome all that they are up against and get the victory and respect they deserve. In many ways, The Long Game from director Julio Quintana, who also penned the script alongside Jennifer C. Statson and Paco Farias, is a standard issue underdog story.

Based on the real life story about a group of Mexican-American teenagers who win a golf competition during the 1950s, the set up is clean cut. JB Peña (Jay Hernandez) moves to a small town in Texas where he becomes a superintendent of a Mexican-American high school. JB is a big golf fanatic and has dreams of joining the Del Rio Country Club, an exclusive club that serves an all-white clientele. Even though he has the help of his fellow veteran Frank Mitchell (Dennis Quaid), the locals aren’t ready or willing to accept a Mexican member into their club.
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Upset at the rejection, JB then gathers a group of teenagers from his school, who all work as caddies at the country club, to form their own golf team. With Frank’s help, a golf aficionado himself, JB gets the kids in shape for competition where they predictably must face off against prejudice and open racism. And while the book this film is based on, Mustang Miracle by Humberto G. Garcia, certainly documents an impressive story of an underdog overcoming odds, the film doesn’t quite reach the heights it’s trying to.

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The Long Game lacks a central thesis. Is the story about JB overcoming his desire to assimilate into white culture and embracing his community? Is it about the young Joe Trevino (Julian Works) finding a place in the world where he can both indulge in a white-dominated sport like golf but also stay true to his heritage? Or is it about this group of marginalized men taking back the respect they deserve in a town where people treat them as second-class citizens? The problem is it is all of that and more. It juggles too many things and ends up dropping the ball.

The way the movie tackles race and the complicated dynamics between Mexican-Americans and white Americans is often heavy-handed. The film is clearly intent on making the story an identity story as well, but it struggles to find balance and nuance along the way. Slights and threats are taken seriously one moment and then forgotten the next. Insults and slurs are hurled around with no real consequences. Clunky tropes create an almost painfully predictable finale, which is disappointing because the film is not without its talent.

While Quaid feels like he’s phoning it in sometimes, Hernandez shines as a vet struggling with PTSD and a man who is determined to earn respect in a world that sometimes won’t even acknowledge him. Works’ Joe is easily the most complex character of the five players, though his story suffers when a romantic plot is written in with neither enough material to be interesting nor enough screen time to feel earned. His relationship with his father (Jimmy Gonzalez) is an interesting foil to his growing bond with JB, though that is never explored.

Cheech Marin comes in as Pollo, the groundskeeper at the club, and though he is always a joy to watch on screen, his character is about as hammy as they come. As is Brett Cullen’s villain, a character so cookie cutter that it’s hard to even recall his name. He’s simply there to be the bad, racist white man. Oscar Nuñez plays the school principal, and though his role is small, he’s enjoyable to watch. Again there are unexplored pockets of his relationship with the newly hired JB that could have been intriguing to explore.

The problem is, when you have a story with this many layers, not only tackling socioeconomic barriers, but racial barriers, and the complexities of a post-war America, it’s far too easy to get lost in whatever catches your eye. There’s even a moment when the boys cross the border to Mexico and they must face the difficult reality that even in a place they dub “the motherland” they are viewed as outsiders, not Mexican but American. The Long Game isn’t awful, it’s perfectly serviceable as a sports flick about an inspiring all-American team, but that’s all that it is: it’s fine. There’s little to write home about and it feels like a case of unfulfilled potential.

Rating: C

The Long Game premiered at the SXSW Film Festival.