A Ten-Year-Old Film Critic Reviews Won’t Back Down
I loved this movie! Won’t Back Down is a rockin’ movie full of both sad and happy parts. It was very emotional. The movie starts off with a little girl named Malia Fitzpatrick (Emily Alyn Lind), who is not learning in school, and her mom, Jamie Fitzpatrick (Maggie Gyllenhaal), is very frustrated about that. So her mom wants to change the school and goes through this big adventure to make Adams Elementary School a better place for learning. She starts little, but trying to make the school better gets to be very overwhelming for all the characters in the story.
The main characters of the movie are Malia, her mom Jamie, and a teacher at Malia’s school named Nona (Viola Davis). They are kind, nice, and thoughtful. Jamie has a strong heart and hopes for the best. She looks on the upside and believes in herself. Jamie tries to do the right thing by making the school better for her daughter. Jamie is doing this for her daughter because she wants her daughter to have a good life. It is good to go to a good school so you can go to college and have a happy life. I admire Jamie’s confidence and how she believes in herself. Maggie Gyllenhaal played Jamie really good. Gyllenhaal played a hard to play part where she had to work really hard to look rushed and flustered. She made Jamie look real and she showed emotion very well.
Nona Alberts is a mom and teacher at the school. At the beginning you may think she is not a good teacher. She is stressed and tired. But, Nona is upset about how Adams Elementary is being run and her own son isn’t understanding school. She feels she needs to take action, but she doesn’t know what to do. Nona wants to do what is right for her son and her students at Adams. She didn’t do anything at first because it is hard and she doubted that trying to change the school would work. Jamie wants Nona to help make Adams Elementary better. Jamie helps Nona to think it could work and gets Nona to try and help the school. Nona believes in herself and in other people. She doesn’t give up on her students or Jamie. Nona and Jamie are great at working together, although they are not sure of each other at times.
Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Emily Alyn Lind in “Won’t Back Down.” Photo by Photo: Kerry Hayes – © 2012 – WALDEN MEDIA, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
My favorite characters were Michael Perry (Oscar Isaac) and Malia Fitzpatrick. Michael is a fun teacher who sings with his students. I like his personality and the way he teaches. He tries to make learning fun. He is a good teacher and is there for his students. Malia is fun and shy. I can really relate to her. I feel what she’s feeling and I understand what she is going through. Lind played this part very well. I think it was hard to play because the girl is different from the other students and has some problems along the way of the story. Malia is a character that is hard to act out, but Lind did this very well.
One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Jamie and Malia are at a charter school hoping to win the lottery for Malia to be enrolled there. I have felt that way before, really hoping for something and wanting it more than anything. It made me think of how things would be for me if my school were like Adams Elementary and what I would be hoping for and how much I would want it. Gyllenhaal and Lind played this scene well. They showed the emotion and hope of this situation.
This movie made me feel sad, happy, excited, and nervous. It made my heart beat fast throughout the movie. I was nervous for the characters and how things would turn out for them. Won’t Back Down made me feel like I could accomplish anything. I left with a smile and felt happy and excited.
Miranda Clarke
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