Rating: PG-13
Starring:
Hilary Swank as Erin Gruwell
Patrick Dempsey as Scott Casey
Scott Glenn as Steve
Imelda Staunton as Margaret Campbell
April L. Hernandez as Eva
Mario as Andre
Kristin Herrera as Gloria
Jacklyn Ngan as Sindy
Sergio Montalvo as Alejandro
Jason Finn as Marcus
Deance Wyatt as Jamal
Vanetta Smith as Brandy
Gabriel Chavarria as Tito
Hunter Parrish as Ben
Antonio GarcĂa as Miguel
Special Features:
Deleted Scenes
Making âA Dreamâ
Freedom Writers Family
Freedom Writers: The Story Behind the Story
Theatrical Trailer
Photo Gallery
Other Info:
Widescreen
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
French Language
Running Time: 122 Minutes
Synopsis:
The following is from the DVD cover:
âTheir story. Their words. Their future.
Two-time OscarÂŽ-winner Hilary Swank stars in this gripping story of inner-city kids raised on drive-by shootings and hard-core attitude â and the teacher who gives them the one thing they need most: a voice of their own. Dropped into the free-fire zone of a school torn by violence and racial tension, teacher Erin Gruwell battles an uncaring system in a fight to make the classroom matter in her studentsâ lives. Now, telling their own stories, and hearing the stories of others, a group of supposedly âunteachableâ teens will discover the power of tolerance, reclaim their shattered lives and change the world. With electrifying performances from its all-star cast, including Golden GlobeÂŽ winner Patrick Dempsey (Greyâs Anatomy) and recording star Mario, âFreedom Writersâ is based on the acclaimed best-seller, The Freedom Writers Diary.â
âFreedom Writersâ is rated PG-13 for violent content, some thematic material and language.
The Movie:
Itâs nice to start the year with something that has its heart in the right place, that tries to âedutainâ young minds with a true story of underprivileged inner city kids overcoming the odds and the system trying to keep them down with the help of an unconventional young teacher.
Sadly, itâs way too easy to be cynical about a movie that follows the âteachers can make a differenceâ formula weâve seen so many times, especially when the first twenty minutes comes across like a remake of the Michelle Pfeiffer vehicle âDangerous Minds.â Once it gets past that, âFreedom Writersâ quickly finds its own identity as a meaningful addition to the scholastic drama genre, partially due to the approach taken by director Richard LaGravenese in making it as much about the kids as it is about Hilary Swankâs Pollyannaish Erin Gruwell.
Gruwell is a white woman from a well-to-do background who unwittingly takes the job not knowing that the school has already given up on her students. Undaunted, sheâs determined to make a difference in their lives and get them to learn. The film is rich with subplots involving the kids to give the viewer a clearer picture of what Gruwell has to face, and it doesnât take long for the movie to deal with the race issue of how a white teacher is able to relate to a class of mainly black, Latino and Asian kids, split up along racial lines like a tamer version of âOz.â (Of course, they make sure to include the single token white kid, played by Ben Parrish, who only seems to be in the class for diversity.)
Realizing that the schoolâs normal curriculum wonât get through to these kids, Gruwell modifies her lesson plan, teaching them about the Holocaust and how racial separatism was taken to a disastrous extreme. She also urges the kids to keep journals of their day-to-day lives, something thatâs so successful that she assigns them to read âThe Diary of Anne Frank,â even taking a second job in order to buy new copies of the book for the class. Word starts getting around about Gruwellâs techniques and though sheâs able to get the students excited about something, her fellow teachers and principal donât share their enthusiasm. When Erin needs to get approval for a class field trip to the Holocaust Museum, she winds up having to go over their heads, which causes even more friction.
At times, Swankâs chronically-smiling Gruwell seems way too nice to be credible as someone who could go into this situation and gain credibility among the kids, but itâs a great role for Swank, because it takes her away from the tough, almost manly, roles sheâs been drawn to since âBoys Donât Cry.â She does a really good job selling the character and winning the audience over, but even more amazing is the filmâs array of talented young actors and newcomers, particularly April L. Hernandez as the gangbanging Latina Eva. Itâs such a strong and effective performance that you have to wonder if she was able to bring something to the character from her own background. The same can be said about Jason Finn, who actually did bring his own background to an older boy living on the streets after being thrown out of the house by his mother. Both of their performances are extremely powerful and emotional, maybe because they seem real compared to the screen debut of R ânâ B singer Mario as Andre, the class clown who has to contend with his own deteriorating family.
âGreyâs Anatomyâ star Patrick Dempsey winds up with the unenviable Adrian Grenier part from âDevil Wears Prada,â being the unsupportive husband at home whoâs mostly unlikable and expendable to the story. Though it adds a bit of crisis to Erinâs focus on helping her kids, the scenes between the two actors seem forced, so theyâre the filmâs weakest moments. On the other hand, itâs nice seeing âVera Drakeâ star (and Swankâs 2005 Oscar nemesis) Imelda Staunton as Gruwellâs harshest critic, a teacher named Margaret Vail whoâs threatened by the changes the younger teacher is trying to bring to the school. Veteran Scott Glenn also has a small part as Erinâs father, who doesnât understand her drive to help the kids, but really, the film is about Erin and the kids, and the movie would have been just as good or better if we didnât spend as much time with Erinâs life away from school.
LaGravenese does a commendable job with the material, using a healthy heaping of early â90s hip-hop to set the tone and mood, and wisely passing on Coolioâs âGangstaâs Paradiseâ to avoid even more âDangerous Mindsâ comparisons. At times, itâs a bit obvious that the movie is from the viewpoint of a white man, such as the corny scene where Erinâs students dance in class before she joins them ala Antonio Banderas in âTake the Lead.â Apparently, this is a regular occurrence in inner city high schools, but itâs also unnecessary filler that seems almost mandatory to the genre. Since the movie already feels a bit long, itâs the kind of scene that could have easily been excised without losing anything.
The Extras:
Thereâs a pretty good collection of bonus features on this DVD. Kicking things off are the Deleted Scenes. There are 11 minutes of them. One features the kids going to see Schindlerâs List and then visiting a restaurant later. They are given disapproving looks by the patrons and waiters, but a reporter meets them and ends up writing the first story about the class. Next up is âMaking âA Dream'â. Itâs a featurette on the theme song from the movie and the making of the hip hop song. âFreedom Writers Familyâ is a 19 minute âmaking ofâ video. It covers the casting of the film, behind the scenes footage, interviews, and more. Rounding things out is âFreedom Writers: The Story Behind the Storyâ. It covers the story of the real Erin Gruwell and tells her real story. Itâs about 10 minutes long. The bonus features conclude with the Theatrical Trailer and the Photo Gallery.
The Bottom Line:
As good or better than MTV Filmsâ 2005 offering âCoach Carter,â this scholastic drama is sometimes a bit formulaic, corny and even manipulative at times, but itâs the kind of inspirational story that deserves to be told and heard, because it effectively touches the heart and moves the spirit. One would have to be pretty cold or tough not to shed a single tear while hearing some of the heartbreaking true stories of these kids, as relayed by the filmâs talented young cast.