Golf is big in Texas - particularly high school golf. The new underdog drama topping the movie charts on Netflix,The Long Game, is aninspiring true story of five Mexican-American teenagers and their coachesin segregated south Texas who took on the racist and cultural appropriation of the 1950s and came out the other side as champions. Based on the 2010 novelMiracle MustangsbyHumberto G. Garcia, the film starsJay Hernandezas JB Peña, a man who refused to accept that he and his Latino students from San Felipe High School should be relegated to being caddies and refused admittance into the best country clubs in Southwest Texas.Julio Quintanadirects an emotional story that co-starsDennis Quaidas Frank Mitchell, the pro golfer who will bend over backward to see that Pena and his rag-tag group of young golfers get every opportunity to prove that they belong, andCheech Marin, the club groundskeeper who also helps the “Miracle Mustangs” succeed.
The Long Game
In 1955, five young Mexican-American caddies, out of the love for the game, were determined to learn how to play, so they created their own golf course in the middle of the South Texas desert.
What Is ‘The Long Game’ About?
In the mid-1950s, in the border town in Texas of Del Rio, Mexican American teenagers were seen as second-class citizens who were expected to be caddies and carry golf clubs for the white members of the posh local country club. Joe Treviño (Julian Works) is the emotionally complex leader of a group of young Mexican-American teenagers who love golf but have nowhere to play in town. JB Peña arrives as the high school’s new superintendent and decides to form San Felipe’s first golf team at the all-Mexican-American school. Joe, along with buddies Mario Lomas (Christian Gallegos), Felipe Romero (Miguel Angel Garcia), Lupe Felan (José Julián), and Gene Vasquez (Gregory Diaz IV), decide that they will form the inaugural team with Peña and Frank Mitchell as the team’s two coaches. Together,they took on the racism and prejudices of 1950s Texas and became one of the best high school golf teams in the history of Texas when they won the State Championship in 1957.
There Aren’t Many Movies About the Latino Struggle for Equality in America
There are many films about the struggle for civil rights in the 1960s, as they pertain to the African-American quest for equality and to stop systemic racism in the United States. Movies likeMalcolm X,Selma,Mississippi Burning, andLovingare just a few. Unfortunately, there are precious few that address the plight of legal Mexican-Americans who lived in Texas and other states bordering Mexico during the era before Martin Luther King and the movement that really took hold in the early 1960s.The Long Gameis a compelling film that dedicates a worthy story to how real-life people like Peña, Treviño, and others were viewed as less than by an established and elitist white society. These are five good kids, and Pena has a noble pursuit to prove that Mexican-Americans were every bit as capable and talented as their white counterparts.When the San Felipe Mustang golf team continues to win and moves closer to their goal of winning the Texas State Championship, the audience is gifted several fist-pumping moments that make the two-hour investment extremely worthwhile.
The Long Gameis a worthwhile story about the fight of marginalized minorities for equal rights,but it also features a terrific interpersonal love story between Joe and the headstrong and smart local girl Daniela Torres(Paulina Chávez). Joe has to prioritize what is truly important to him as he and his teammates find continued success while he falls for the charms of Daniela. The two young Hispanic actors have a believable chemistry, and the subplot of their sometimes tumultuous relationship allows the viewer to see what life was like outside the bigger picture of human rights and equality.
The Real-Life Obstacles Were So Much More Than Just A Game
The fight for equality that these brave teenagers and their coaches embarked on was about a heck of a lot more than just golf. It is about the American Dream and overcoming things like poverty, illiteracy, and the ever-looming racism in the South. Team member Gene Vasquez spoke about the litany of things that were stacked against these children of migrants in a2023 SXSW premiere interview with Entertainment Weekly:
“It’s a dream come true, only in America, really… We were fighting brutal poverty and brutal discrimination. Our parents were migrants; they were illiterate, and we were very poor. So, this was very exciting for us because we could enjoy caddying, making a little money, and learning how to play golf by mimicking the golfers. Then we got an idea: Let’s make our golf course. We started gathering all the equipment, and we started swinging.”
It is a tale that demands the audience take a look at not only the Mustang golf team but also the very real immigration issues today and the actual human beings involved in the border crisis, which is a hot-button issue right now.
Where Are the “Miracle Mustangs” Now?
In 2012, the “Miracle Mustangs” were inducted into the Latin American Sports Hall of Fame.At the film’s end, Quintana provides an epilogue detailing where the real-life Mustangs and coaches Peña and Mitchell are now.Joe Treviño, the leader and most talented player, decided against pursuing golf as a career and dedicated his life to refurbishing golf clubs and giving golf lessons. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 75 and is survived by two daughters and two sons. Gene Vasquez, portrayed by Gregory Diaz IV, alsotold Entertainment Weekly, “After so many years, over 50 years, we finally got a little recognition,” he said. “It’s very gratifying.“Per Texas Monthly, he previously taught in San Felipe public schools and later worked in real estate. He passed away just last year at 83 years of age.
Felipe Romero “competed professionally in national and international golf mini-tours while also working as a bus conductor and instructor for the Metropolitan Transit Authority in Houston.” Lupe Felan worked for the Marine Corps, then the California Department of Motor Vehicles. He reportedly plays golf every day. According to Texas Monthly, Mario Lomas became a caddie on the PGA Tour and later worked as a greenskeeper at a country club but has reportedly lost touch with the group over the years.
The Long Gameis available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
WATCH ON NETFLIX
