Movie review: 'The Mighty Macs'

To put it simply, "The Mighty Macs" is a feel-good movie. There's nothing wrong with that, but since the film is based on historical events, we already know how the story ends and are left to focus on other aspects of the film -- i.e., the acting.

The acting is excellent, particularly by Carla Gugino. She plays Cathy Rush, the new women's basketball coach at Immaculata College -- an all-female college in Pennsylvania founded and run by nuns. The facilities that Cathy gets to work with are atrocious. The team plays in an old activity center, which was being used as a storage room. Their home games are played at the local high school, and in one instance, the players have to use a ladies' room as their "locker room" for an away game.

The odds are stacked against Cathy, who is married to NBA referee Ed Rush (David Boreanaz). Immaculata College is in financial trouble, Ed doesn't support her efforts to turn around a losing team, and there is no funding for equipment.

By hard work, contagious enthusiasm and cleverness, Cathy and her team pick up steam. Instead of the once-a-day practices they had under their previous coach, the players now practice at 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day. A sister at the college joins as the assistant coach. After a humiliating loss, Cathy forces the team to practice drills in a tunnel sewer.

The school starts to rally around the team when it's invited to a regional tournament. Despite a disappointing loss, the team gets one of four at-large bids to the national tournament in Chicago. The only problem? No funding. So the team gets clever, raising money by selling hand lotion door to door and Cathy dressing up in a habit to fly free.

Remember how "The Mighty Macs" is a feel-good movie? Well, of course, they win the national championship, Ed comes around and the marriage is healed, and the administration supports the team. Now if only we get to know how their women's basketball facilities improved after that. . .