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WON'T BACK DOWNMovie Reviews
Drama about two determined mothers who fight against bureaucracy to transform their children's failing inner city school. Cast:Maggie Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Sylvester Stallone, Sung KangDirector:Daniel Barnz, Walter HillRelease Date:September 28, 2012DVD Release:January 15, 2013From:20th Century FoxRating:PGLength:1 hr. 55 min.
Won't Back Down played to fair reviews. • Claudia Puig wrote in USA Today, "While there are moments where this drama is compelling and deeply moving, the film gets mired in heavy-handed cliches and dully repetitive scenes..." • And Ann Hornaday wrote in the Washington Post, "...viewers are likely to feel less uplifted than lectured." More Reviews Below...
Won't Back Down Positive Reviews (42 Reviews, reviews below)
Alynda Wheat, People: MODERATE(cg) "...subtlety is not this movie's strong suit. Neither is logic.... The performances are fine, and the film means well.... But this is more of a battle cry than a movie."(See all of Alynda Wheat's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 130 words, 09/27/12
Mary Pols, Time: POOR "...cheesy... rises and falls on the shoulders of its leading ladies. Davis is, as always, a rock solid actress.... Gyllenhaal gives a very strange, poorly directed performance..."(See all of Mary Pols's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,152 words, 09/28/12
David Germain, Associated Press: MODERATE(cg) "It's inspiring to hear about parents going all-out to secure a better education for their kids. It's dreary watching them jump through the hoops they face..."(See all of David Germain's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 569 words, 09/27/12
Keith Staskiewicz, Entertainment Weekly: EXCELLENT(cg) "...awkward at times, yet it's also passionate in a surprisingly smart way. It makes a genuine drama out of impossible issues. It's also, for the most part, very nicely acted."(See all of Keith Staskiewicz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 699 words, 09/27/12
Claudia Puig, USA Today: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "While there are moments where this drama is compelling and deeply moving, the film gets mired in heavy-handed cliches and dully repetitive scenes..."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 566 words, 09/28/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: MODERATE(cg) "The American public education system seems to be in meltdown... It all sounds so simple -- and it is, because the movie makes it seem simplistic."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 487 words, 09/28/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: WEAK "For a while, the filmmakers make a perfunctory show of fairness to both sides of the argument... But the film ultimately has no use for nuance..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 763 words, 09/28/12
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: POOR(cg) "...an unabashedly biased diatribe.... Shoving your own opinions down someone's throat -- no matter how valid they may be -- is less likely to educate than to alienate."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 384 words, 09/28/12
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: POOR "Though the film's pernicious propagandistic bias is irritating and misleading, it can't be overemphasized that what is really wrong is how feeble it is dramatically."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 916 words, 09/28/12
Kyle Smith, New York Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "I haven't seen a timelier or more important film this year, and the film's passion for school choice could hardly be more warranted."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 683 words, 09/28/12
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: WEAK(cg) "...a blunt attempt to make audiences feel good about feeling lousy about public education and good-for-nothing union-coddled teachers..."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 733 words, 09/28/12
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: MODERATE(cg) "Whatever you think about these issues, this film won't expand your horizons. It's more likely to harden your position. That's the opposite of education."(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 303 words, 09/28/12
Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine: POOR "...has neither the contextual detail nor the stylistic panache to sell its cloying, wish-fulfillment narrative. It can't decide what it wants to be, so it settles for nothing."(See all of Bilge Ebiri's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 796 words, 09/28/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: MODERATE(cg) "The American public education system seems to be in meltdown... It all sounds so simple -- and it is, because the movie makes it seem simplistic."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 487 words, 09/28/12
Bruce DeMara, Toronto Star: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...because of its focus on only one aspect of an education system in death-throe decline, bad unions, the film doesn't wholly make the grade."(See all of Bruce DeMara's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 513 words, 09/28/12
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "As a movie trying to make the case for parental management of the education process, it doesn't make an entirely convincing case."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 737 words, 09/28/12
Radheyan Simonpillai, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a barely veiled propaganda film that's saved from a failing grade by good performances.... Every scene is calculated to activate tear ducts or fist-pumping."(See all of Radheyan Simonpillai's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 214 words, 09/27/12
KEY CITIES (12 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: POOR(cg) "...it becomes clear that the movie has been designed as an anti-union, pro-charter screed... viewers are likely to feel less uplifted than lectured."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 441 words, 09/28/12
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...while the obstacles (daunting) and the outcome (uplifting) are predictable, the movie benefits hugely from its cast... Gyllenhaal is relentless... Davis is amazing..."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 522 words, 09/28/12
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: WEAK(cg) "...emotionally manipulative, dramatically crude, factually challenged hero/villain hokum... has more than a few amusing passages of the head-slap variety."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 517 words, 09/28/12
Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: WEAK(cg) "...a Message movie with a capital M, and it delivers that message with all the nuance of a megaphone blast to the face... it beats you over the head with it."(See all of Barbara VanDenburgh's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 587 words, 09/28/12
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: MODERATE(cg) "Is there an actress able to do bone-deep exhaustion better than Viola Davis?... strong on gumption and scant on particulars..."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 624 words, 09/28/12
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "For sure, this is a cause movie in favor of charter schools... Still, it is reasonably fair in its approach.... Gyllenhaal and Davis have many strong acting moments..."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 429 words, 09/28/12
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: MODERATE(cg) "Though it's wonderfully acted, the film stacks the deck so badly that it fails as drama.... mostly the movie is a heavy-handed slog..."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 340 words, 09/28/12
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: MODERATE(cg) "While the cast is filled with award winners, writer-director Daniel Barnz is a dunce who can't construct an argument without employing flimsy logic and cardboard characters."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 388 words, 09/28/12
Tom Long, Detroit News: MODERATE(cg) "...it would have been nice to know how those true events turned out. Since we don't, the questions raised are never really answered."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 299 words, 09/28/12
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: WEAK(cg) "...the script carefully places token pro-union sentiments in the mouths of some of its characters, then sets up pro-union forces as the ultimate villains of the piece."(See all of Connie Ogle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 526 words, 09/28/12
Sean O'Connell, Cinema Blend: MODERATE(cg) "...would have descended to troubling levels of pap if not for a handful of powerful performances and the unbridled enthusiasm of director Daniel Barnz."(See all of Sean O'Connell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 684 words, 09/28/12
Jake Mulligan, Boston Phoenix: POOR(cg) "...a dumbed-down, Capraesque crowd-pleaser... The movie preaches about 'hope' and 'yes we can,' but a slightly different buzzword comes to my mind: bullshit."(See all of Jake Mulligan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 153 words, 10/04/12
Nathan Rabin, AV Club: FAIR(cg) "...clumsy.... the nauseatingly maudlin ending betrays the formulaic manipulation lurking behind the film's thinly applied coat of gritty, timely faux-realism."(See all of Nathan Rabin's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 344 words, 09/27/12
Cynthia Fuchs, Pop Matters: POOR(cg) "...the film is single-minded... the problem is teachers.... Whatever your political persuasion regarding public education, the film is a disappointment."(See all of Cynthia Fuchs's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 935 words, 09/28/12
Alison Willmore, Movieline: WEAK(cg) "...pretends to be about teachers and parents coming together on behalf of their children, but it's really around to quietly, troublingly boost for-profit education..."(See all of Alison Willmore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 829 words, 09/27/12
R. Kurt Osenlund, Slant: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...this is a movie about people first... if it falls short of conveying truly informed objectivity, its central crisis is one that's rather vividly bipartisan..."(See all of R. Kurt Osenlund's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 684 words, 09/26/12
Radheyan Simonpillai, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a barely veiled propaganda film that's saved from a failing grade by good performances.... Every scene is calculated to activate tear ducts or fist-pumping."(See all of Radheyan Simonpillai's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 214 words, 09/27/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (4 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: WEAK "For a while, the filmmakers make a perfunctory show of fairness to both sides of the argument... But the film ultimately has no use for nuance..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 763 words, 09/28/12
Ella Taylor, NPR: WEAK "...a propaganda piece with blame on its mind.... speechifying... it's nuance and reason that fall by the wayside amid the sloganeering rhetoric..."(See all of Ella Taylor's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 848 words, 09/26/12
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: POOR "Though the film's pernicious propagandistic bias is irritating and misleading, it can't be overemphasized that what is really wrong is how feeble it is dramatically."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 916 words, 09/28/12
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: POOR "...inept and bizarre... simpering, pseudo-inspirational pap, constructed with painful awkwardness and disconnected from any narrative plausibility or social reality."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,261 words, 09/26/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (5 Reviews)
Peter Debruge, Daily Variety: WEAK "...heavy-handed... disingenuous pot-stirrer plays to audiences' emotions rather than their intelligence... dramatizes the least interesting part of its underlying true story..."(See all of Peter Debruge's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 823 words, 09/26/12
David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: WEAK "...addresses timely issues but eschews shading in favor of blunt black and white. It's old-school Lifetime fodder dressed up in Hollywood trappings.... dumbed-down..."(See all of David Rooney's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 844 words, 09/26/12
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: POOR "Though the film's pernicious propagandistic bias is irritating and misleading, it can't be overemphasized that what is really wrong is how feeble it is dramatically."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 916 words, 09/28/12
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: MODERATE(cg) "...hyped up, over the top, loud, and basically inarticulate... isn't the thoughtful, thought-provoking consideration of our educational woes that it pretends to be."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 705 words, 09/26/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: WEAK "For a while, the filmmakers make a perfunctory show of fairness to both sides of the argument... But the film ultimately has no use for nuance..."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 763 words, 09/28/12
20.0 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Won't Back Down's reviews are separated by an average 20.0 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Won't Back Down (42 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Won't Back Down's reviews cover 82.0% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 23,842 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 568 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Won't Back Down Coverage, Volume & Length (42 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 11.4 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Won't Back Down's reviews on average broke 11.4 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Won't Back Down's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Won't Back Down (42 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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