See “Won’t Back Down” for its Performances
It would be unfortunate if people thought “Won’t Back Down” is simply an anti-union film. There have already been union protests about this film from Walden Media, the same company that produced the doomsday education system documentary “Waiting for Superman.”
“Won’t Back Down” is a fictional drama, co-written and directed by Daniel Barnz (“Phoebe in Wonderland”) and inspired by California’s 2010 “parent trigger law,” in which parents attempt to take over failing public schools.
The drama is about two mothers. Jamie Fitzpatrick (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a single mom with a daughter Emily (Malia Fitzpatrick) with dyslexia. Jamie works hard as a bartender and struggles to help her daughter do her schoolwork.
Nona Alberts (Viola Davis) is a teacher at the Pittsburgh school Emily attends. Nona, too, has a child with a learning disability. Cody Alberts (Dante Brown) has suffered brain damage.
The elementary school Emily attends is one of the worst schools in town, and Emily is stuck with one of its worst teachers: Deborah (Nancy Bach). Deborah is lazy, apathetic, and treats the kids with malice. You would think in the real world Deborah would be fired, but according to this scenario, the union protects her and her job regardless.
I’m hoping this is just exaggeration for dramatic effect, but you don’t go to this movie for its melodramatic, then rah-rah story, you go for the powerful performances of Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis. As a bonus you get Rosie Perez in her first film role in some time, and a boo-hiss performance by Holly Hunter as the teachers’ union head, Evelyn Riske.
Frankenstein’s Pup
Writer-director Tim Burton was inspired by the famous 1931 version of “Frankenstein,” starring Boris Karloff, for his black-and-white stop-action animated comedy, “Frankenweenie.”
Burton pays tribute to many more famous monster and horror films in a story about a boy who brings his beloved dog back to life after a traffic accident.
I loved the monster and horror movies of my youth (they never scared me), and this is a very funny and clever tribute to those films.
Charlie Tahan voices Victor Frankenstein, a boy whose beloved dog Sparky gets run over in traffic. Like the Frankenstein monster, Sparky comes back to life, scarred and stitched-up. Like Frankenstein, Sparky unintentionally wreaks havoc in the town of New Holland.
Winona Ryder voices Victor’s next-door neighbor, Elsa van Helsing, who has a pet poodle, who through another electrical procedure, gets a hairdo like the Bride of Frankenstein.
“Frankenweenie” has a great cast of celebrity voices including two stars of famous horror films: Martin Landau as the Vincent Price-like weird science teacher who encourages Victor to experiment, and Christopher Lee as the voice of Dracula.
Others are Catherine O’Hara as Victor’s mom and several other voices; Martin Short as his dad Ben Frankenstein, and Atticus Shaffer as Edgar Gore, the Igor-like classmate of Victor’s who is Weird Girl’s (Catherine O’Hara) potential love interest.
“Frankenweenie,” the first stop-motion picture in 3-D and IMAX formats, is a project near and dear to Tim Burton’s heart. The affection shows. Even monsters need love.
Three and a half stars
