‘The Long Game’ is an inspiring movie for Latino families

Golf has rarely seemed like an exciting game for me to watch, but “The Long Game” succeeds in making it interesting and even inspiring as it shares a piece of Mexican American history. 

The film challenges the idea that golf has always been a game played by the elite, with a tale that is based on a true story, inspired by the book “Mustang Miracle” written by Humberto G. Garcia.

More importantly, the story shows that Mexican Americans and Latinos have been playing golf since the 1950s, even if they weren’t allowed in country clubs. So if you’re looking for an inspiring story to take your family to watch this weekend, look no further.  

In the movie, five young Mexican American caddies in 1955 create their own golf course in the middle of the South Texas brush country. It’s a classic underdog team story in the style of “Remember the Titans” and “Macfarland, USA.” 

The caddies play golf with outdated and inferior equipment, initially with no professional instruction. That is until the most rebellious of the caddies, Joe Trevino, played by Julian Works, hits the golf ball with fate, in a way. 

I could tell you if they win when they go on to compete against wealthy, all-white teams in the 1957 Texas State High School Golf Championship, but it’s probably better if you go see it.

Jay Hernandez and Dennis Quaid play JB Peña and Frank Mitchell, the two coaches who do their best to keep the team out of trouble and focused enough to excel in the green. Latino comedy star Cheech Marin plays Pollo, the Latino employee at the country club who sees the potential in the team and in coach JB Peña, giving the story a special touch. 

Hernandez's character becomes the team's coach after trying to become a member of the country club and failing because even though he is a war veteran and served his country, he's still a Mexican in the eyes of the wealthy white residents of the 1950s Texas town.

Threats of assimilation, Spanish erasure and racism add to the obstacles in the field for the young golfers, but they ultimately face them all with grace and perfect scores. 

While shooting, Quaid was actually giving golfing tips to the younger actors. 

Works said Quaid “is an avid golfer, and he was there making sure that our swings looked authentic and real so if an actual golfer were to watch this movie, it would be believable.” 

But Works started playing golf a couple of years before he started shooting and he said he fell in love with the game. 

“Golf is a game of honor,” Works said. “You’re having to keep your own score so you gotta keep up that honor of not lying [about] what you do.” 

CALÓ News spoke to Works, Paulina Chávez, who plays his love interest Daniela Torres, Miguel Angel Garcia and José Julián, who play fellow high school golfers Felipe and Lupe, about the film and playing golf even after the shooting was done.  

Garcia and Julian both fell in love with golf after filming and Garcia said he says yes to every invitation to play. “I’m not very good at it but I do love it,” he said. 

Julián said on the last day of shooting, even though they wrapped at six in the morning, they decided to play one last game before flying home. 

“We hadn’t slept for 24 hours and we were exhausted and we still managed to sneak in 18 holes,” Julian said. “That was actually pretty crazy, we kind of regretted it halfway through.” 

Chávez previously worked in the Netflix series “The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia,” or “Ashley Garcia: Genius in Love” as the streaming network later renamed the show. 

The movie features many male stories and arcs but it also makes it a point to feature some of the women in the movie and their hopes and dreams as well. 

Without giving too much away, there is a part in the story where Chávez’s character Daniela talks about her abuelita, so when asked what type of story she would like to tell about her own abuelita, Chávez said there are so many stories she could tell, but one of them is that she was in a marriage for ten years but couldn’t have a child. “They would always blame her and then she got a divorce and then met my grandpa, and she had a baby,” Chávez said.  

When asked what they hope people get out of the film Chávez said “I want them to be inspired and then to know that you can always dream big and that the impossible is possible.”

“I hope our youth watches this and gets motivated,” Works said. “I hope people… that relate to being an underdog or overcoming obstacles use this movie as a vehicle to push where they want to go.” 

Miguel Angel Garcia said he hopes people get inspired “to push for their goals and push for their dreams.” 

"The Long Game" is now playing in theaters. 

You can also watch it with the Latina Golfers Association on April 13.