Won't Back Down (DVD REVIEW)
Won’t Back Down
DVD
Review by Kam Williams
Teacher
and Mom Join Forces to Save
School in Tale of Female
Empowerment
In 2010, California passed the
nation’s first “Parent Trigger Law,” a bill which enables a neighborhood with
an underperforming public school to fire the principal, replace the staff and
convert it to a charter, provided a majority of the parents with students
attending it sign a petition. The legislation has proved very controversial
thus far, with opponents alleging that the measure is merely anti-union,
whereas the sponsors call it an overdue reform intended to give kids stuck in
so-called “dropout factories” a fair chance.
Consequently, Won’t Back Down was
released under a cloud of controversy, which is unfortunate since the film is
otherwise a quite engaging and entertaining tale of female empowerment. The
reason why the picture has generated so much suspicion is that it was produced
by Walden Media, the same studio that just a couple of years ago released
Waiting for Superman, an incendiary documentary that came under attack for
blaming teachers’ unions for the broken educational system.
Although based on actual events that
transpired in Los Angeles, Won’t Back Down is set in the City of Pittsburgh,
where we find an exasperated Jamie Fitzpatrick (Maggie
Gyllenhaal) struggling
to just to survive. Between selling used cars by day and bartending at night,
the single-mom barely has any energy left to attend to the academic needs of
her dyslexic daughter, Malia (Emily Alyn Lind).
Convinced that the lagging 8
year-old hasn’t learned to read out of neglect, she enters the little girl in a
lottery for one of the few coveted spots opening up at Rosa Parks, a
highly-regarded, nearby charter school. But when Malia’s name isn’t called, the
frustrated mother decides to do something about the school they’re still stuck
with.
Inspired by the state’s new “Fail
Safe Law,” Jamie morphs into a tireless child advocate hell-bent on wresting
the reins of control from an administration and staff with low expectations.
Along the way, she enlists the assistance of Nona Alberts (Viola Davis), a
jaded teacher who had all but gone to acceptance.
Initially, Nona is reluctant to get
involved, because she could very easily get blacklisted for trying to bust the
union. Furthermore, she’s an emotional wreck, being overwhelmed by the prospect
of having to raise her son (Dante Brown) on her own in the wake of her
estranged husband’s (Lance Reddick) recent departure.
Nevertheless, Jamie and Nona bond
and, over the objections of bureaucrats, not only garner the requisite number
of parental votes but even talk the teachers into surrendering job security for
performance-based salaries. An uplifting, overcoming the odds Hollywood saga
suggesting that the solution to public education’s host of woes might be as
simple as a couple of women on the verge of a nervous breakdown picking up
picket signs.
In the tradition of Norma Rae and
Erin Brockovich, say hello to Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts!
Very Good
(3 stars)
Rated PG for mature themes and mild epithets.
Running time: 121
minutes
Distributor: 20th
Century Fox Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Deleted
scenes with optional commentary by director Daniel Barnz; A Tribute to
Teachers; The Importance of Education; audio commentary with the director; theatrical
trailer; and sneak peeks.
To see a trailer for Won’t
Back Down, visit:
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