The other night I attended a screening for the new movie “Won’t Back Down” starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Holly Hunter and Rosie Perez.
First, who just doesn’t love Maggie Gyllenhaal??
She’s just fabulous and, as you can expect, with actresses like Maggie, Viola and Holly the acting in this movie is simply top notch. From the caring moments, through the tears and struggles to the cheering emotional moments, I really felt like I was with them all the way.
This is definitely a “feel good movie” and predictable in the good way a feel good movie is.
The storyline builds consistently from the very beginning as Maggie, a passionate mother to a child attending an inner-city school in Pittsburgh, finds difficulty getting her daughter, who has dyslexia, the help she needs at school.
Viola is a teacher at this school (and also has a son struggling in school) who is disgruntled with the way her job is unsupported and manipulated through the bureaucracy of the politics her administration is involved in.
Because Viola is also a caring mother, it doesn’t take much convincing from Maggie for her to join her to work for changing their failing school and creating a successful learning environment for their children.
These are two passionate mom’s, let me tell you!! They are extremely inspiring.
The movie flows right along, not losing focus or dragging at any points – and I really loved that.
I don’t really want to give to much away as you may also want to see this movie when it opens September 28th. The main feature I loved about this movie, and one I completely agree with, is that if you’re a parent and you passionately care about an issue affecting your child, you can, as they say “move mountains”. Really, this applies not to just parents, but to any child caregiver.
It’s easy to get caught up in the “politics” of the world, but when you can keep life simple and focused on what is really important – caring for one another – anything is possible.
If you’re ready for a Fall “feel-good” film, then I highly recommend this one.
Disclosure: I was invited to this movie screening by the fabulous blogging group “Circle of Moms”. I was compensated for my time and for writing this review, though the opinions I share are completely my own.
