REVIEW
Won't Back Down
Where: Empire Capitol 6, SilverCity
Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Oscar Isaac, Holly Hunter
Parental advisory: G
Rating: 2 (out of four)
How unpopular are teachers' unions? Here's one measure: They're now the villains in a Hollywood movie.
Won't Back Down, an inspirational drama about an inner-city school, does for teachers' unions what Arnold Schwarzenegger flicks once did for Russians. In this full-throated endorsement of the controversial parent-trigger laws that allow parents to take over failing schools, Jamie Fitzpatrick (Maggie Gyllenhaal) plays a hard-working mom whose dyslexic daughter is foundering at Pittsburgh's bottom-rung Adams Elementary. Fed up, Jamie and a disillusioned teacher, Nona Alberts (Viola Davis), begin campaigning to turn Adams into a nonunionized charter that can fire underperforming staff. But that means battling the nefarious Teachers Association of Pittsburgh, which counter-attacks with disinformation, character smears and bribery.
There are grains of truth in this story, along with solid performances and smooth directing from co-writer Daniel Barnz (Phoebe in Wonderland). But despite its polish, Won't Back Down is still propaganda. Not because its production company, Walden Media, is owned by conservative billionaire Philip Anschutz, but because this movie fears nuance, pushes an agenda and demonizes its opposition.
Adams Elementary is failing not because of poverty or language barriers among immigrant families; its one and only obstacle to providing great education is tenured teachers, variously labeled "deadbeats" and "zombies." Oscar Isaac and Rosie Perez, as Nona's worried colleagues, pay lip service to union loyalty, but their arguments are emotional, never rational. As for Adams' funding - public or private? - that's an important can of worms left unopened.
