| Won't Back Down | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Daniel Barnz |
| Written by |
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| Produced by | Mark Johnson |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Roman Osin |
| Edited by | Kristina Boden |
| Music by | Marcelo Zarvos |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 121 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $19 million[2] |
| Box office | $5.8 million[3] |
Won't Back Down is a 2012 Americandrama film directed byDaniel Barnz and starringMaggie Gyllenhaal,Viola Davis andHolly Hunter.
Two determined mothers, a car dealer/bartender (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and a teacher (Viola Davis), look to transform their children's failing inner-city school inPittsburgh. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy and corruption from the teachers' union president (Holly Hunter) and the school's principal (Bill Nunn), they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children.[4]
The film is loosely based on the events surrounding the use of theparent trigger law inSunland-Tujunga, Los Angeles, California in 2010, where several groups of parents attempted to take over several failing public schools. The Parent Trigger law, which was passed in California and other states in 2010, allowed parents to enforce administrative overhaul and overrule administrators in under-performing public schools ifpetitioned. If successful, petitions allow parents to direct changes such as dismissal of staff and potential conversion of a school to acharter school.[5][6]
Walden Media, a film studio which released a 2010 documentary filmWaiting for "Superman" withParamount Pictures andParticipant Media about theAmerican educational system,[7] produced the film, with20th Century Fox releasing it on September 28, 2012.[8] American actressesMaggie Gyllenhaal andViola Davis were among the first to be cast,[9] with Academy award-winning actressHolly Hunter being cast later on.[6] The film marked Hunter's first film appearance in seven years sinceThe Incredibles andThe Big White. The film's trailer was released on May 17, 2012.[10]The film's budget was $25 million, not counting the undisclosed amount for marketing the film.[citation needed]
Private foundations and theU.S. Chamber of Commerce contributed more than $2 million for a publicity campaign for the film. Television ads, bookmarks, websites and private screenings a six-month cross-country tour promoted the film. Promoters scheduled private screenings in states from New York to Georgia and Utah, to promote the movie and itsparent trigger message.[11]Michelle Rhee presented the film at separate events near both theRepublican andDemocratic Party 2012 national conventions several weeks before itstheatrical release.[12]
The film grossed just $5.3 million at the box office domestically, and, according toBox Office Mojo, had the worst opening-weekend performance of any film to open in more than 2,500 theatres – collecting just $1,035 per screen, until the record was broken byVictor Frankenstein in 2015.[13]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 34% based on 105 reviews with an average rating of 5.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Despite the best efforts of its talented leads,Won't Back Down fails to lend sufficient dramatic heft or sophistication to the hot-button issue of education reform."[14] OnMetacritic the film has a weighted average score of 42% based on reviews from 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[15] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film a grade "A−" on scale of A to F.[16]
Variety called the film a "heavy-handed inspirational drama" that "grossly oversimplifies the issue at hand." The site continued, "Barnz's disingenuous pot-stirrer plays to audiences' emotions rather than their intelligence, offering meaty roles for Maggie Gyllenhaal as a determined single mom, and Viola Davis as the good egg among a rotten batch of teachers, while reducing everyone else to cardboard characterizations. Absent high-profile champions, femme-centric pic could suffer from low attendance."[17] Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times wrote: "Both the lottery scene and the anti-union material seem to be fictionalized versions of material in the powerful documentaryWaiting for Superman which covered similar material with infinitely greater depth."[18]Michael Medved liked the film, giving it three and a half stars (out of four) and calling it "... one of the better films of 2012."[19]
Some critics have contended that the film is an ideological vehicle of conservative activistPhilip Anschutz and that the film is slanted to promote theparent trigger movement.[20][21] Some critics have contended that the movie shows a watered-down version of what parents are really up against when trying to implement the Parent Trigger law.[22]
Viola Davis won theNAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for her role as Nona Alberts;[23] and she was nominated for aBlack Reel Award for Best Actress for her role.[citation needed]
Won't Back Down was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 15, 2013.
