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Freedom Writers
Directed by: Richard LaGravenese
Starring: Hilary Swank
Genre:
Drama
Run Time: 123
min.
Release Date:
January 2007
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Maybe I’m jaded, but the
“Great White Hero Saves The Poor Destitute And Misunderstood Minorities”
cinema stories are wearing thin on my last, good nerve. DANGEROUS
MINDS, THE PRINCIPAL, etc., are examples of this well-trodden
genre. I can hear my detractors now (“But this is a true story!” and
“It’s heartwarming!”). My dog ran away once and I thought we’d lost him
forever. But he came back. It’s a true story. And I consider my dog
pretty heartwarming. But I’d never consider putting it on
film, as it too has been done to death (see HOMEWARD BOUND). I’m
not comparing animal stories to human interest ones, but the emotional
wallop they used to have has seriously waned.
So let’s get into the meat-and-potatoes of this sucker. To be completely
honest, it’s not all that bad. Hilary Swank pulls in a high-level
performance as Erin Gruwell, a new teacher at a Long Beach, California
school where racial integration has triggered turf wars. Blacks, Whites,
Asians, and Latinos are all at each others’ throats. Until (queue heroic
music) Mrs. Gruwell arrives to save them from their hateful and
murderous ways. At first she’s at a loss of how to reach her new
students. But she finally starts understanding how their lives outside
the classroom directly affects what happens inside. She finally helps
them grasp their prejudices by reading The Diary of Anne Frank. Learning
about the Holocaust and the extreme persecution of the Jews, the
classmates come together and learn to ignore skin color and focus on
what’s on the inside. Gruwell also aids them in writing journal entries
which eventually were bound together into a book called (ta-da) “The
Freedom Writers Diary.”
While her students battle their internal demons via close quarters in
class and their journal entries, Gruwell has to battle the prejudices of
the school faculty and the break-up of her marriage (because she spends
so much time with her class versus at home with her husband).
The big letdown is that there’s nothing new here. Yes, again, the story
is true. Yes, it’s interesting. Yes, it’s heartwarming. Yes, we’ve seen
it time after time after time after time.
The other problem I encountered was that these kids were supposed to be
high school freshman (14 years old). But several of the boys were
approaching or over six feet tall, and had mustaches along with five
o’clock shadows. Kind of makes it difficult to suspend belief when
seeing that.
Still, there’s a good story at its core. Mrs. Gruwell is to be commended
for what she’s done in helping these young folks turn their lives
around.
Now if we could just move on to another story! Please!
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Image from Freedom Writers
DVD cost: $20.99
Purchase:
Barnes and Noble
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
After a tragedy struck the
student body, the real-life Gruwell assigned the students The Diary of
Anne Frank and found that many of the student's identified with Anne's
life growing up in a warzone.
Movie Quote: "You're
a first time teacher. You can't make someone want an education."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Freedom Writers
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