Synopsis
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Viola DavisNona Alberts
- Maggie GyllenhaalJamie Fitzpatrick
- Ving RhamesPrincipal Thompson
- Lance ReddickCharles Alberts
- Rosie PerezBreena Harper
- Emily Alyn LindMalia
- Stephen WeigandRiske's assistant
- Liza Colón-ZayasYvonne
- Teri ClarkMiss Andrews
- Sarab KamooPrincipal Chamudes
Recommandations
- 83
Entertainment Weekly
Won't Back Down says that whatever your feelings about the subject, lack of change cannot be the answer to our public-education crisis. Trying to cram an informational exposé and a vintage inspirational awards-bait weeper into one movie, Won't Back Down is awkward at times, yet it's also passionate in a surprisingly smart way. It makes a genuine drama out of impossible issues. - 75
Observer
It's a film that deserves to be seen, savored, debated and given serious attention. - 63
Slant Magazine
One of its strengths is a knowledge of when to unfurl information, particularly for the strongest emotional effect. - 60
Boxoffice Magazine
Won't Back Down makes grand drama of bureaucracy, positioning Gyllenhaal as the knight slaying 400 pages of government paperwork in order to wrest control of her daughter's elementary school. It's rousing - if not thrilling - stuff. - 50
Village Voice
In Davis's case, marveling at yet another fine performance doesn't stop you from wishing that her first leading role was in a worthier vehicle - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
The movie addresses timely issues but eschews shading in favor of blunt black and white. It's old-school Lifetime fodder dressed up in Hollywood trappings. - 50
Variety
Grossly oversimplifying the issue at hand, writer-director Daniel 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. - 50
Chicago Sun-Times
Both the lottery scene and the anti-union material seem to be fictionalized versions of material in the powerful documentary "Waiting for Superman," which covered similar material with infinitely greater depth.
