Freedom Writers (2007)
Directed by Richard LaGravenese
Written by Richard LaGravenese
Starring Hilary Swank, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey, Mario
Release Date January 5th, 2007
Published January 4th, 2007
Every year we get another inner-city teacher drama. The stories are meant to be inspiring, uplifting and heartwarming. They are mean to 'really make you think.' The thing about this particular plot however, is not how often it is repeated; but how often it works. Looking back, over what by now can be considered a sub-genre, the inner-city teacher drama has turned out a number of very good movies. From Stand and Deliver to Lean On Me to Dangerous Minds, the story is similar and so are the positive results.
The latest movie to lift this story line is Freedom Writers the true story of a teacher who listened to her students and allowed them to tell their story. Aside from the true story aspect, there is nothing original about Freedom Writers. What sets it apart is the savvy performance of star Hillary Swank who shows why she is a two time Oscar winner. In Freedom Writers Hillary Swank stars as Erin Gruwell a good-hearted but naive, heart on her sleeve liberal activist who has just accepted her first teaching job.
It's 1996, the Rodney King riots are fresh in the minds of all, and Erin's new school in Long Beach California is an epicenter of racial tension after a forced integration policy began busing inner-city kids to this suburban high school. The integration has caused a racial stratification, a sort of tribalism in which people of the same ethnicity hang out together and with no one else. Racial lines are crossed at your own peril and gang violence is the price you pay. Into this situation walks wide eyed idealist Erin who feels that she can make a difference with these kids despite the cold-hearted realism injected by her supervisor Ms. Campbell (Imelda Staunton) who tries hard to temper Erin's enthusiasm.
Erin's first day is a disaster. When she brings up the story of Homer students shout back insults about Homer Simpson. When Erin makes attempts at racial humor, the silence is deathly. At home things are just as mixed up Erin's husband Scott (Patrick Dempsey) is supportive at first but soon becomes upset with the amount of time dedicated to Erin's students, while her activist father Steve (Scott Glenn) is skeptical and concerned for her safety.
You know from the formula and the true story tag that eventually Erin will get through to her kids and that they will bond like a family. What Freedom Writers director Richard LaGravenese does to set this story apart is allow his star Hillary Swank to carry the whole movie. Swank plays Erin Gruwell with an optimistic streak that never dims. Erin Gruwell manages to be fearless and clueless but never foolish. She has an innate understanding of her surroundings and though she is naive, her naivete is part of her charm and why these life hardened kids allow her in their world.
This is a tremendous performance with no wrong notes. Swank proves once again why she is an Oscar darling. She finds a rhythm to each of her performances and plays it for all it's worth. Now working in a most familiar of stories, within the constrictions of a genre formula, Swank sets the whole film apart from its familiar or even cliched elements by how she plays the role of Erin Gruwell.
Freedom Writers is a true story. The screenplay credit went to director Richard LaGravenese but it's based on the writing of the real life students of the real Erin Gruwell. Freedom Writers is the rare true story that doesn't get bogged down in making its story more cinematic than it is. Freedom Writers is focused and well paced, it reveals itself and its characters slowly and with great care. Working from the real life diaries of these students the stories are heartbreaking and LaGravenese and his cast never shy away from that sadness. To their credit they are also not consumed by that sadness.
Freedom Writers is a little too familiar but it's a story that is so well told that familiarity doesn't breed contempt or even boredom. It is yet another teacher inspires inner city students to become better citizen movies. And yet, it works. Hillary Swank is so talented that I forgot to look for the cliches, I forgot to predict what was going to happen next. I found myself investing in this story and enjoying it more than I ever imagined.
