Won't Back Down

[baumer]

Discuss

[JackO]

Won't Back Down is the story of 2 mothers on a collision course with each other as their kids both end up getting screwed by the education system with no other way to fix it but to bring down the house.

This movie is alright. Viola Davis performance here as a veteran teacher who has just had enough is even stronger then her role in The Help. Her intense yet sensitive performance, I hope will garner her some attention this year in a weak Best Actress field.

Maggie Gyllenhal surprised me. I was so used to her playing safe 'librarian' characters. This mother was so out of character for her that I forgot it was her back there. Anyways, she more then helped carry the film through it's early stages.

"Have we forgotten why we are here?" said Maggie Gyllenhal "It's not about the unions or parents or teachers! It's about the kids." Unfortunately, this movie forgot about the kids as well in some places. They spend a lot of time bashing unions. Pretty much unions are the bad guys in the film. And my liberal heart could not quite make that leap, no matter how hard they tried to make it seem that way.

Holly Hunter's revelation did not help either. While I personally don't think that union are the biggest issue in the education system, I won't rate the film down because of it. See it for the performances and leave politics at the door!

I wrote that 4 weeks ago and since then i have changed my mind. I am going to rate this film down for it's anti-union message. It is easy to get swept up enough int he performances to try and ignore it but it is just so blatantly and stereotypical (I mean there is is a villain monologue for the union boss that I could not give it a positive rating. Especially when I think Here Comes the Boom handles the issue much better.

[Gopher]

I mean there is is a villain monologue for the union boss that I could not give it a positive rating

Oh dear. Thankfully no one actually saw this movie.

[JackO]

Oh dear. Thankfully no one actually saw this movie.

Yes. This!