Review: 'Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down' is a warm-hearted portrait of a political fighter and a survivor of gun violence

The documentary directing team of Julie Cohen and Betsy West have created a strong niche for themselves, profiling strong, smart, determined women — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (“RBG”), legal thinker Pauli Murray (“My Name Is Pauli Murray”), celebrity chef Julia Child (“Julia”), and now former congresswoman and advocate Gabby Giffords, the subject of the inspiring “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down.”

In the latter half of the aughts, Giffords was known in her home state of Arizona, and maybe a few policy wonks and Democratic Party leaders (such as President Barack Obama, who’s interviewed here) as an up-and-coming young member of Congress. If she had a national profile, it was because she married an astronaut, Mark Kelly.

Giffords was considered a moderate in her conservative Tucson district; she even touted that she owned firearms and knew how to use them for hunting and target-shooting. Only the most wingnut of Republicans really loathed her, or thought she was dangerous.

Everything changed on Jan. 8, 2011, when Giffords was appearing at a “meet your congressperson” event outside a supermarket in her district. A gunman with a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, equipped with a 33-round magazine, started shooting. Nineteen people were hit, and six died — including a federal judge, a 9-year-old girl, and one of Giffords’ senior staffers. Giffords was shot, at close range, in the forehead; the bullet went through the left side of her brain, and exited through the back of her skull.

Much of what Cohen and West employ to tell the story of Giffords’ recovery stems from a decision her husband, Kelly, made in the hospital: To document the long, painful therapy and rehabilitation process, so Giffords could watch it when she was better. 

Giffords suffered partial paralysis from the brain damage, and still walks with a cane. She also was unable to speak — a condition called aphasia, caused when the bullet damaged the language centers of her brain. Even today, as the movie shows, she has difficulty expressing some words and concepts, and often will prepare days in advance for interviews (including the ones in the film).

The shooting may have slowed Giffords, but it didn’t stop her. The movie captures her on the move today, advocating for gun safety, campaigning against the National Rifle Association (remember to hiss when Wayne LaPierre appears on the screen), and hitting the trail in support of Kelly, who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2020.

It’s unlikely that “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” will win over any Republicans who stereotype her as another lefty Democrat. But for people on the Democratic side of the political tug-of-war, Giffords is a hero and a survivor, and the movie gives that audience plenty of reasons to cheer.

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‘Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down’

★★★1/2

Opens Friday, July 15, at the Broadway Centre Cinemas (Salt Lake City); will air later this year on CNN. Rated PG-13 for thematic material involving gun violence and some disturbing images. Running time: 95 minutes.