Won't Back Down

This cheesily heart-warming tale of American parent power stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis as chalk-and-cheese mums who team up to take on the entrenched and toxic bureaucracy at their kids' failing inner-city elementary school. Their plan: to assume control of the establishment, give it a revamp, then run it themselves along more enlightened lines. The film is a little heavy-handed, more than a little corny and a touch too long, not to mention being rooted in an education system that is very different to ours this side of the pond. But it has its heart in the right place and is passionately acted, while the themes explored are universal enough to make this worth the watch.