Freedom Writers
In Freedom Writers, freshman high school English teacher Erin Gruwell (Hillary Swank) gets schooled by inner city youth from Black, Latino and Asian backgrounds. You know the story; the unhip teacher will eventually win them over by stepping around guidelines set by the evil school board — by actually teaching them something, and getting a little hipper in the process.
The film is based on “The Freedom Writer’s Diaries” written by teacher Erin Gruwell and her students at Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. Instead of buying into the idea that kids can’t learn so don’t bother to try, Erin spends her own money to buy her students new books, beginning with “The Diary of Anne Frank,” as well as blank notebooks for writing their own journals. The students, who have grown up on the mean streets and have watched their friends die every day, are moved by the real life WWII story of a Jewish girl persecuted by Nazis. Gradually, the students are awakened to their own prejudices toward each other as the teacher encourages them to keep diaries about their own tragic lives.
While you might think this formula of “eager young white teacher meets tough ghetto kids” is something you’ve seen before (think Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds) —well you have, but Freedom Writers is still a solid inspirational film despite its predictability.
Hillary Swank is well-cast as the naïve but plucky Erin. Even if you’re not a Swank fan, you have to admit that her work in Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby is nothing short of mesmerizing. The rest of the cast is solid here with the leads handled by veterans such as Scott Glenn as Erin’s father and Imelda Staunton as the head of the English department. Patrick Dempsey is wasted in the small role of Erin’s gloomy husband and scenes between the couple drag the film down. The scenes where the students are shown at home and out on the streets is what really bring about the raw emotion and drama to the film. Most of the young cast playing the high school kids have never acted professionally before but they deliver remarkable performances.
Director Richard LaGravenese has included several bonus features on the DVD, including interviews with Swank and the real-life teacher Erin Gruwell, as well as the rest of the cast.
Reviewed By: F. Kearnes
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