'The Mighty Macs' are mighty familiar

Like a generic-label product packaged to resemble a recognizable brand, the sports drama "The Mighty Macs" ought to come with a list of helpful comparisons: "Miracle" and "Glory Road" would be on there, and so might "The Blind Side" and "Secretariat." The active ingredients are essentially the same.

"The Mighty Macs" is based on the 1971-72 Immaculata College women's basketball team, which leaped from obscurity into the national championships thanks to a tenacious new coach, Cathy Rush. The Pennsylvania college's Mother Superior (Ellen Burstyn) regards basketball as mere busywork, but Rush (Carla Gugino, "Sucker Punch") is determined to whip her dispirited, underfunded team into shape.

You say you've heard it all before? That's probably what this thinly written film was hoping, because the more you fill in the blanks the less work it has to do. We never quite see what motivates Rush or why her team suddenly turns a corner. Everyone just starts doing better, because that's what happens in these movies.

"The Mighty Macs" makes nods to feminism but pays little attention to the Macs themselves, who are virtually indistinguishable and exist mainly to absorb Rush's wisdom ("Dreams are for everybody"). How can we care about Lizanne (Kim Blair) or Rosemary (Margaret Anne Florence) or Trish (Katie Hayek, a real-life college player) when we don't know them? The most memorable character is the fictional Sister Sunday (Marley Shelton, "Pleasantville"), a lively young nun whose barroom talk tests the film's G rating.

Gugino can't figure out how to play Rush -- doting den-mother, or Pat Riley in heels? -- but that's probably the fault of first-time director Tim Chambers (also the writer-producer), who mixes in every theme at hand: teamwork, independence, gender, God, you name it. The result is a kind of sports-movie smoothie, but maybe that's exactly what "The Mighty Macs" is going for.

PLOT The true story of Immaculata College's underdog women's basketball team. RATING G

CAST Carla Gugino, Ellen Burstyn, Marley Shelton

LENGTH 1:35

PLAYING AT Area theaters

BOTTOM LINE A generic mix of "The Blind Side," "Miracle" and any other sports movie that sold well.