Stars Maggie Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Oscar Isaac, Holly Hunter, Rosie Perez, Emily Alyn Lind, Dante Brown. Directed by Daniel Barnz from his script, co-written by Brin Hill. Rated PG. 121 minutes. Critic’s grade: C+

(also published in print and online at Folio Weekly)

At first blush, “Won’t Back Down” comes off as something of a shocker: Here’s a drama, with a cast led by Maggie Gyllenhaal, well known for her progressive liberal views, that for all intents and purposes slams down hard on teachers unions. A glossy Hollywood product built on a plot pitting a high-minded educator (Viola Davis) conspiring to transform an inner city public school into a charter school, over the objections of some fellow teachers and their villainous local union head (Ned Eisenberg), all hellbent on maintaining the status quo? Seriously?

That’s the way the storyline shakes out in the film, which shares a title with the Tom Petty rocker (it finally blares on the soundtrack during the end credits, while his “Learning to Fly” lights up one giddy sequence). Once pushing past that seeming contradiction, though, the film, directed and co-written by Daniel Barnz (the youth-oriented “Beastly” and “Phoebe in Wonderland”), settles into something less surprising. Sentimental and simplistic if occasionally inspirational, “Won’t Back Down” often resembles one of those feelgood made-for-TV movies that routinely pop up on women’s-oriented cable networks. It’s a nice, well-intentioned little movie, marked by moments of authenticity if ultimately manipulative and rather forgettable.

Barnz’s film lands a few notches above standard Lifetime Network fare, largely thanks to the humane, sympathetic performances of its lead actors. Gyllenhaal is alternately vulnerable and brittle as Jamie Fitzpatrick, a working-class Pittsburgh woman who holds two jobs — pouring drinks at the local bar, and answering phones at a used-cars lot — in an effort to provide for herself and her daughter, Malia (Emily Alyn Lind); the third-grader is afflicted with dyslexia and stuck with a living nightmare of a teacher (Nancy Bach) at the subpar John Adams Elementary School. That bad apple, who during the opening sequence blithely lets Malia be mocked by her schoolmates, for seven years has been the school’s most highly paid teacher, according to a fellow teacher (an underused Rosie Perez). But the principal (Bill Nunn), fearing blowback from the union, can’t fire her, or won’t try. The stage is set for a showdown.

The film’s producers, who should see their film benefit from a Chicago teachers strike that pushed education issues back onto the evening news, deserve credit for using a Hollywood drama to shine the light on a serious social issue, even if the execution is imperfect. And, while the film isn’t based on any single series of real-life events, it certainly reflects the crises and choices that many students and their parents have been forced to face.

In the wake of the stonewalling treatment she receives at her daughter’s school, Jamie participates in a bingo-style lottery, conducted by a straight-shooting principle (Ving Rhames), for a place in a local high-performing school. The sequence, one of the film’s most moving and realistic, will remind some of “Waiting for Superman,” the Davis Guggenheim documentary following five students hoping for spots in charter schools across the country. That film, the most widely seen documentary of 2010, would make a good double-bill with Barnz’s movie at any gathering of teachers, students and parents seeking to engage in a serious dialogue about improving public education.

After learning of a law that essentially allows parents great leeway in allying with interested educators to drive a makeover of an underperforming school, Jamie begins an all-out campaign to enlist other parents and the school’s teachers. Her first recruit is Nona Alberts (Davis), a longtime teacher who began her career with great promise, but has seen her enthusiasm for the work evaporate; she has personal struggles to deal with, too, including marital issues and a son (Dante Brown) facing learning challenges. Jamie takes a blunt approach with Nona, asking “You want to start a school with me?”

Davis’s performance is the rangiest in the movie, and the actor effectively brings viewers along as she cycles through a variety of emotional states. Some may wonder why, yet again, as in “The Help” (featuring Davis’s breakout role), the lead white character is the one who saves the day, rather than the lead black character, in this case the education-savvy Nona, who happens to be the smartest one in the room. Just asking.