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This isn’t grand cinema here we’re talking about, but it works nonetheless, mainly because of Goldie Hawn.

Hawn plays Molly McGrath, a high school track coach who dreams of following in the footsteps of her father and coach football. When the JV coach position at her school becomes available, she goes for it. However, she has to get past the chauvinistic varsity head coach Dan Darwell (Bruce McGill, CINDERELLA MAN), who ends up getting Molly the head varsity coach job at the inner city Central High School, where no one wants to coach. He hopes that she’ll quit, which will lead to no one ever hiring her as a coach again.

Like many films in the sports genre, Molly must prove herself to her tough players, which include Trumaine (Wesley Snipes, BLADE) and Krushinski (Woody Harrelson, NATURAL BORN KILLERS). One of her biggest challenges is getting former star player turned petty thief, Levander “Bird” Williams (Mykelti Williamson, ATL) to rejoin the team.

The film has all the typical underdog clichés. However, Hawn sells her character, especially when it comes to the struggle of taking on the coaching job and keeping her kids from her conservative sleaze of an ex-husband Frank (James Keach, WALK THE LINE).

The humor is often broad, but again Hawn brings the material back to center. Where the film works best is in knowing how to gain the audience’s sympathy. The right villains make us root for Molly even more. The only major misstep is with the Philip Finch character (Tab Thacker, POLICE ACADEMY 4). He is introduced late and seems to be more a plot complication than a real integrated character. Any genre, which has taken on a certain formula can still attain an enjoyable entertainment level with the right characters, performers and twists. WILDCATS has all those criteria especially with Hawn making the film’s gimmick feel natural and not just a gimmick.