The Mighty Macs is a 2009 American sports drama film by director Tim Chambers. It stars Carla Gugino in the lead role of Cathy Rush, a Hall of Fame women's basketball coach. The film premiered in the 2009 Heartland Film Festival and was released theatrically in the United States on October 21, 2011 through indie film label Freestyle Releasing.
Plot
In 1971, Cathy Rush, a woman ahead of her time, takes a job as the head women's basketball coach at Immaculata College. Rush faces a challenge of trying to compete against perennial powerhouses. Seven members of the 1972 Immaculata championship team appear as nuns in a church scene early in the film, sitting together in a pew, passing a note from the Rush character to a student.
Cast
Carla Gugino as Cathy Rush
Ellen Burstyn as Mother St. John
Marley Shelton as Sister Sunday
David Boreanaz as Ed Rush
Katie Hayek as Trish Sharkey
Kim Blair as Lizanne Caufield
Margaret Anne Florence as Rosemary Keenan
Taylor Steel as Mimi Malone
Kate Nowlin as Colleen McCann
Meghan Sabia as Jen Galentino
Phyllis Somerville as Sister Sister
Tony Luke, Jr. as Salvator Galentino
Kathy Romano as Gate Agent
Joe Conklin as Game Announcer
Production
The film was filmed in 2007, but not released until 2011 due to the difficulties of finding a distributor. The director, Tim Chambers, had a potential distribution deal with Disney, but turned it down because Disney wanted to add coarse language to earn PG rating, but Chambers preferred to go for a G rating. Chambers worked out a deal with Freestyle Releasing, and the movie opened four years after completing the filming.
Some scenes were shot at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Some scenes were shot at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
Some scenes were shot in Alfred Cope Hall Gymnasium at Cheyney University in Cheyney, Pennsylvania
Reception
The Mighty Macs received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 46%, based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The site's consensus reads, "Its heart is obviously in the right place, but The Mighty Macs is too blandly formulaic to transcend the genre's many clichés." On Metacritic, the film has a rating of 49 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".