Won’t Back Down parents guide

Won’t Back Down Parent Guide

"Won't Back Down" might feel heavy-handed at times but it is also inspiring to see parents get off the sidelines.

Overall A-

When the school fails her child, a determined mom (Maggie Gyllenhaal) enlists the help of teacher (Viola Davis) to try and change the educational system. The pair face overwhelming odds and unbending bureaucracy.

Release date September 28, 2012

Violence B
Sexual Content B+
Profanity C-
Substance Use C

Why is Won’t Back Down rated PG? The MPAA rated Won’t Back Down PG for thematic elements and language.

Run Time: 121 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

Every year our local school districts publish a ranking of all the elementary and secondary educational institutions in the region. At the top every year are the same two or three privately funded facilities where parents pay big tuition fees to have their children educated. That’s great if you can boast that your children attend one of those academies. But I’ve always wondered how the parents feel whose children’s schools fall at the very bottom of the list—especially since this comparison between have and have not facilities is hardly fair.

Now I think I know.

Jamie Fitzpatrick (Maggie Gyllenhaal) lives in the wrong part of town, where poverty, a lack of opportunities and the weight of daily life hangs heavy on her slender shoulders. Still, the single mother knows enough to realize her dyslexic, third-grader daughter Malia (Emily Alyn Lind) can’t read—and that isn’t likely to change in a classroom where an uninspiring and disengaged teacher sits at her desk texting or shopping online while her students stagnate at their desks.

Unable to afford another option, Jamie advocates, without success, for her daughter to be moved to a different classroom. Then she stumbles upon a little known law that allows parents to demand changes in their school. Needing a combination of parental and teacher support on the petition, she approaches Nona Alberta (Viola Davis), a teacher who realizes she too has succumbed to accepting mediocrity and failure in her students.

Of course a disgruntled mom and dissatisfied teacher waltzing into the school district’s headquarters with complaints against the system aren’t going to be warmly welcomed. And neither are these two. In fact, as Jamie and Nona go house to house soliciting parental support for their proposal, the teachers’ union issues its own press releases containing all the negative and fear mongering information they can compose.

To be fair, Won’t Back Down paints union leaders, teachers and even some parents with a broad brush that is never fair or completely accurate to the individual. However, many of us have been at enough parent teacher conferences to know that while there are scores of truly gifted and inspiring educators out there, there are also those that have no business being in a classroom. And sometimes the union is to blame for that.

Produced in part by Walden Media who also released the 2010 documentary Waiting for “Superman”, the film is based loosely on several parent groups who used the parent trigger law in the state of California to make improvements in their failing schools. While the movie neglects to address other issues that hamper education, such as hunger, poverty, the lack of parental involvement, discipline issues, crime, and the distraction of media, the reality remains that nothing changes until we are willing to acknowledge a problem exists.

Won’t Back Down might feel heavy-handed at times but it is also inspiring to see parents get off the sidelines. In one scene, a school administrator urges parents to leave the education of their children in the hands of the professionals. That advice is very dependant upon professionals that haven’t forgotten why they are there.

Directed by Daniel Barnz. Starring Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Holly Hunter. Running time: 121 minutes. Theatrical release September 28, 2012. Updated

Won’t Back Down
Rating & Content Info

Why is Won’t Back Down rated PG? Won’t Back Down is rated PG by the MPAA for thematic elements and language.

Violence: Some children are subjected to bullying at school. A child has blood on his shirt. A character admits to driving drunk and having an accident with her child in the car. Characters are threatened with job loss.

Sexual Content: A couple cuddles and kisses on several occasions.

Language: The script contains a few moderate profanities and a sexually suggestive term.

Alcohol / Drug Use: Characters drink on several occasions at home or in a bar setting.

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Won’t Back Down Parents' Guide

Should parents be forced to enter lotteries in order to give their children a better education? Despite the “leave no child behind” policies, are some segments of the nation’s youth being warehoused instead of really educated? Can disparities between have and have not schools be corrected? If so, how? What, besides funding, contributes to a good school?

In this film, two women decide to take over their school. In a less adversarial or extreme scenario, how can parents work with teachers and administrators to improve their schools? How can schools work better with parents?

What factors that affect education are not addressed in this film? How can receiving a good education be hampered by poverty, hunger, lack of parental involvement or education, media use such as television and video games, deficient discipline or support at home, and disrespect for teachers?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Won’t Back Down movie is January 14, 2013. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: Won’t Back Down

Release Date: 15 January 2012

Won’t Back Down releases to home video (Blu-ray & DVD) with the following extras:

- Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Director Daniel Barnz

- A Tribute to Teachers

- The Importance of Education

- Audio Commentary with Director Daniel Barnz

- Theatrical Trailer

- Sneak Peek

- Ultraviolet Copy

Related home video titles:

Waiting For Superman is a documentary looking at the shortcomings of the American educational system. Other individuals who try to raise the standard of teaching and help disadvantaged kids are featured in Stand and Deliver, To Sir With Love and Freedom Writers.

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