Being both an “important” movie and a “feel-good” movie, right off the bat “Won’t Back Down” is in danger of being filled with cartoon villains that you want to punch in the face even as the story layers on the schmaltz en route to a blatantly telegraphed happy ending. Luckily, there’s more to the movie than that. But what really carries this underdog story from start to finish is the performance by Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Playing Jamie Fitzpatrick, a poor single mother who works as a receptionist and a bartender and can’t afford to send her daughter to anything other than the crappy local public school, Gyllenhaal glows with infectious positivity even as Jamie is confronted with inertia, paperwork and bureaucracy. Gyllenhaal is one of those actors who is consistently great, yet I want to call her “surprisingly” great in every role.
Loosely based on a true story, “Won’t Back Down” chronicles one parent’s and one teacher’s (Viola Davis as Nona) efforts to take over Adams Elementary under a little-known parent trigger law (the real-life law is on the books in a California district, but it’s a Pennsylvania state law in the film). Essentially, it’s a feel-good law that — as written — allows parents to petition the school board to “take over” the bureaucracy of a particularly awful school (Adams had gotten an “F” 19 years in a row), basically turning it into a charter school. But in practice, it’s almost impossible to get a proposal approved by the board, and indeed, Jamie finds out that many parents before her have backed down after recognizing the long odds.
Jamie and Nona are presented with so many hoops to jump through that it honestly seems like they’d have better luck just starting their own school. However, the movie isn’t overly Hollywood-ized — the hurdles are genuine, both on a human and bureaucratic level. For example, Jamie dates Michael (Joaquin Phoenix lookalike Oscar Isaac), who believes strongly in unions and is hesitant to join her cause. He’s emblematic of teachers who — deep down — want to be free to teach, but are also scared of getting involved with the political side of things.
“Won’t Back Down” is a great-looking movie, as blue-collar Pittsburgh provides the backdrop, both in the way Jamie’s mission fits with the town’s hard-working tradition and challenges its union tradition. Jamie’s apartment is cramped yet wonderfully homey. There are also a couple of adorable kids, as you might expect — Jamie’s is dyslexic and Nona’s is a slow learner — and talented veteran actors throughout, including Holly Hunter, Ving Rhames, Rosie Perez and “Fringe’s” Lance Reddick.
The danger of being manipulative hangs over the early part of the movie, but it digs into the issues — and answers the obvious questions, such as “Why is this school so bad despite having lots of good teachers?” — so smoothly that it ultimately sucks you into its “fight the good fight” tale. (Admittedly, the requisite student-lottery scene is tough to watch, and it trips up the positive energy. Although I understand that there are only so many seats available in charter schools and I believe it’s better that some kids get a good education rather than none, there’s something very “Hunger Games” about the idea of a kids’ future being left up to a ping-pong ball.)
The teachers’ union in the movie is terrified of a tidal wave effect if Jamie is successful, but of course people like her are exactly what this country needs. Rather than just complaining about public schools or voting for the rare politicians who support vouchers and school choice, good parents and good teachers need to team up and fight for their kids’ future rather than backing down to unions and government hurdles. If “Won’t Back Down” inspires the creation of even one more quality school or the “take over” of a bad public school, it was worth making.