(25 May 2012)

swank's credible performance is heart of this feel-good flick

yes, the saintly teacher/coach in a down and out school has been done many times before. and yes,this based-on-real-life story has a predictably happy ending.and yet...I wholeheartedly recommend this as a genuine feel-good movie largely due to swank's believable performance as a preppy rookie teacher who goes to the projects to make a difference. swank creates a convincing mix of naievete, determination, passion and, yeah, sex appeal to the movie. the actors who play her students are uniformly good and the teacher's connection between the kids' experience and anne frank is particularly compelling.

Sweetivylyn (24 May 2012)

Freedom Writers Made Me Feel Good!

Went today during the first show and was really surprised to see about20 people there...very unusual! I didn't really know much about themovie except Hilary Swank was starring and it was based on a true storyabout integration and gang problems at a Long Beach, Ca. High School.Before too long, I was completely drawn into the story and was pleasedto find that a supporting cast of relative "unknowns" were doing such agood job of acting that they were able to keep my curiosity flowingthroughout the entire film; Found myself crying at several parts duringthe film but walked away feeling satisfied that I'd chosen a decentfilm to watch; I wouldn't be surprised if Swank receives an Oscar forher portrayal of the inspirational teacher who wouldn't quit on herstudents and helped turn them into proud, young adults! I think I'llsee it again.

Eric Lurio (24 May 2012)

It's a case of youthful enthusiasm vs. all sorts of cynicism and guess who wins?

Ruthe Stein (23 May 2012)

At a time when New Year's resolutions to change already are falling by the wayside, you can't help but be moved by a group of young people who followed through on their resolve.

Felix Gonzalez Jr. (22 May 2012)

Swank's earthiness is key here, and she consistently rises above the story's cliches.

(22 May 2012)

Freedom Writers

This review is from: Freedom Writers (Widescreen Edition) (DVD) This awe-inspiring true story was well-cast and well-acted. The bonus material made this DVD even more worthwhile.

(21 May 2012)

3 stars out of 4

The Bottom Line:Freedom Writers sometimes cleaves to formula, but the emotions it generates are real, its characters reasonably nuanced, and its acting high caliber enough to raise the film above the tired genre of "inspirational teacher" films.

(20 May 2012)

Well Executed Film

Overall, this is a very good film. Good plot, great acting, and excellent execution.As for the impact of this movie? I don't consider it to be very influential. Though it's my understanding that it's based mostly on the truth, there are some things to consider about this movie. These include:- the main character ends up destroying her marriage by her obsession with her students. I wouldn't condone any job as worth destroying a marriage.- she no longer teaches in the public school system. I think what the movie portrays something that may be possible over the short-term, but over the long haul is not possible. I would be more impressed if the continued being a teacher. She may have started as a revolutionary figure, but at what point would she have a family of her own? Would she give up her relationship with her kids for her students? - as someone that teaches, I find the system depicted in the movie mostly realistic. I, myself, have taught in a upper tier school system and find the constant demands placed upon us to be unrealistic by the school board and the community. I think this movie feeds into this. Teaching can be an exhausting job and on an average week putting at least 45-55 hours a week. I do grow tired of hearing a public talk about how easy our job is and all the vacation we get. The vacations are nice for sure. But on any given day, I am putting in 9 hours a day with more work I am taking home. At this point and time, teachers do not get the respect they should for all the issues that they face in the classroom. More and more, we are expected to be everything for the students, which creates an environment where the parents/students oftentimes are not expected to do much. - it's great that she was able to change the lives of the students she taught, but there was a personal price to be paid for this. I also wonder if that is why she no longer teaches? - In many places, the pay for teachers is downright appalling. If the nation wants to improve their educational system, there are many places to start. Better standards, expectations for students/parents/teachers. Right now there are mostly mandates being placed on teachers with little regard for poorly performing students. - With all my thoughts on this, this is someone coming from a district that is consistently ranked as one of the top in the country. We have students that are failing and I see very little being done to stop the slide. I don't find it realistic to expect teachers to work 12 hour days everyday to be "everything" for their students.

(20 May 2012)

Amazing Film for teens and adults

This review is from: Freedom Writers (Full Screen Edition) (DVD) I can't begin to explain how phenomenal this movie is. I would encourage everyone to watch it...I think it would be great for teachers to watch with their students and parents to watch with their teens. I think it would inspire some great conversation.

Ken123456789 (19 May 2012)

Freedom to Not Watch This Movie

Freedom Writers(2007)Mrs. Gruwell(Swank) is a new teacher at Wilson High School in LongBeach, California. She is from a good neighborhood and is shocked whenshe sees the quality of the students at Long Beach. Mrs. Gruwell isdedicated to her job though, and will stop at nothing to turn theschool around. This was based on a true story. Freedom Writers has poor character development. Mrs. Gruwell justbarely avoids being the perfect girl. Her problems are just that she isa little dorky and her marriage runs into few tiny problems while atLong Beach. Steve Gruwell(Glenn) is even less developed that Mrs.Gruwell, as he is just a role filler. The main problem of thecharacters is the students. They act as just one group, and not asindividuals. The film never takes any times to show us in depth any oftheir problems. There's the guy that has problems with his dad, the guythat saw his friend get shot, and the girl that has problems with herdad, but that's as far as they go. Also, the students change way tooquickly and put their problems behind them pretty easily. It's interesting that Freedom Writers is based on a true story, but theexecution on bringing the story to film was done poorly. Most of thetime it's either predictable or melodramatic. The saddest part of it isthat they try to make it dramatic when they read Anne Frank's Diary. Itcould almost be called copyright infringement. Going into the movie youknow everything is going to turn out alright, but the film doesn't eventry to put us in doubt. There are barely any obstacles put in thefreedom writers dream of becoming fine, outstanding citizens. We havethe vice principal that doesn't approve of what Ms.Gruwell is doing,but that's the biggest obstacle in their path. Also, the ending iswatching the freedom writers type their story and a small argument onwhether Mrs. Gruwell can teach the students in their Junior and Senioryears. Fascinating. The directing of Freedom Writers is bad because the director nevercreates an effective atmosphere. We never really feel the pain that thestudents are going through. The lighting is very bland and never helpscreate a mood. He never uses the right shots to maximize the setting'spotential. The cinematography is also bad, as it appears they could'vefilmed this on a cheap camera and film. When you have 35mm film lookinglike 16mm film, you know something's wrong. The music is overdone andmelodramatic, but with the quality of the writing it would be hard toavoid. On the upside, we do have some pretty good songs that fit thefilm perfectly. I will also say though it is obvious they tried to makea good movie. The actual acting of Freedom Writers is OK, but the casting wasterrible. The students of the film are supposed to be 14/15, but wehave actors that are 20 to 27 years old playing them. I did a littleresearch into this and the youngest of the actors was seventeen yearsold. This makes many lines come off as extremely camping. We one actorsays,"Even though I have only lived a short fourteen years, I have seenmany things." It makes you think the next line coming is " When I wastwenty two years old, I changed my identity to a fourteen year old,because having been held back eight years was too embarrassing."BAKED FRESH BOTTOM LINE 3/10Pros: Songs Interesting that it's based off a true story They tried! :)Cons: Character Development Poor execution of story Directing MusicCastingRating Information PG-13 1. Violent Content a. fights break out 2.Language a. Some cursingCastHillary Swank - Mrs. GruwellPatrick Dempsey - Scott CaseyScott Glenn - Steve GruwellApril Hernandez - Eva BenitezDirected by: Richard LaGraveneseReview Written by: Kenny Stice

pc95 (18 May 2012)

Tries Mightily, but script is dirt poor

Purportedly based on a true story, you can tell many of the actorsincluding Hillary Swank in this education story are giving their utmostand all into this project - there are some touching moments and genuinefeelings on display. However the script is quite poor and it shows.It's in the line of Crash but not quite as bad where racial cliques orminorities are divided out and roles are subdivided neatly andstereotyped in an ends justifies the means fallacy of argument. Theindividual is no longer emphasized, rather racial groups are emphasizedhypocritically - a lot of victimizing and stereotyping within themovie's depictions contribute to the very thing the movie is preachingagainst. Also preposterous are supposed totally unprofessional behaviorfrom other English teacher and principal bent into saying or acting outmore than a few absurd reactions/thoughts in school in an effort to beantagonizing - transparently awful and over-dramatized. The movie isall over the place. Side stories like her marriage are neglected orshouldn't be added. It's a mess and the writing has failed here. Othermovies like Stand and Deliver are better and at least more believable.Not really recommended although you could do worse.

Mark Larsen (17 May 2012)

World according to Hollywood

Well. Seem's Hilary Swank is now a guarantee for a crap movie. Just sawthe Reaping and compared to this one, the Reaping (a weak movie)is muchbetter. Why? Because the Reaping is just a fantasy story and everybodywill know it is a fantasy story. Now this Freedom Writers is just purenonsense, but some people think it is the reality. They even say it'sinspired a true story, yeah like one percent inspired. It's soHollywood, so cliché, that it makes you get an allergy while seeingthis movie.I have to be fair and say, the acting is great, of everybody involved.But the story is just too Hollywood. And what is with all that NSstuff? Does reading Anne Frank make Ghetto kids better? Give me abreak. As if they would care. I am normally sympathetic with the 'hero'in the movies, but in this case, I was with the 'bad' people (the otherteachers) who don't like Mrs G. I would not like her either. And if Iwould have married her, I would have left her like her husband. I thinkit was Thoreau who said, if he knew if somebody wanted to somethinggood to him, he would run away as fast as he could. Maybe he sawFreedom Writers :-)

Sam Hawkes (16 May 2012)

Brilliant

I loved this film. It may be like many other story lines that have beenused in the past.. similar to that of Coach Carter, but without thebasketball.I still think its brilliant. I just watched it without knowing muchabout it (after buying it make up the third DVD of my 3 for £20 deal)and couldn't move away from the TV. I enjoyed it so much.I am a male in my late teens and it almost reduced me to tears. Thereare some such moving parts, which really highlight the realisation ofAmerican life. Explaining how its not all middle class white people,living comfortably. As much as America advertises itself as a brilliantcountry to live in (the land of opportunity) this film really doesbring things down to earth.A must see for anyone who enjoys a good film. I also enjoyed that notevery other word had to f**k or s**t which widens the possible audienceand makes it more suitable for younger children (rated 12 in the UK).Please ignore bad remarks about this film and watch it for yourselfbefore making your judgement based on other peoples views.

radar0774 (15 May 2012)

Every high school student should see this movie.

This is one of the best inspirational high school movies I've seen yet.The director wasn't afraid to show a glimpse of what life was like forthese kids (and death.) Of course they may edit some things out to geta PG13 rating (I hope they don't.) Hilary Swank does some of her bestacting , as usual, but most of the other cast are great as well. It'sgood that they are unknowns, because it makes you feel like they arereal and not just acting. When I went to see this, I thought ofDangerous Minds, The Principal, Lean on Me, and Stand and Deliver. Ithink this is a little better than all of those, though those are goodmovies (Dangerous Minds was a little weak, though.) This movie takesplace between 1994 and 1996 in Long Beach, CA, so you have to keep thatin mind. The music does a good job of placing the time period, and allthe songs are classics. This movie probably won't do well at the boxoffice, but good movies never do so what can you do? Oh well. At leastit will become required viewing for high school students in the future.; )

Victoria Alexander (13 May 2012)

Too preachy, too many tears.

(13 May 2012)

Freedom Writers

The wonderful movie Freedom Writers, is set in a racist school in a racist community. These highschool students in the community are split into diffrent ethnic groups and are not supposed to talk other groups. These groups are more than racial groups , they are more like gang groups. They will fright members from another group and kill them for what they believe is theirs. There is a teacher named Erin Gruwell, who is played by Hilary Swank, who has been chosen to take on this school. She comes to the school not knowing what to think. She starts by just being nice, but when the class doesn't cooperate like she hopes, she switches to a more serious person. She tottaly changes their opinion on eachother by teaching the Holocaust. She has them read "Anne Frank" and it changes their perspection on eachother. They are no longer diverse groups. Once they step into the classroom, they are all friends This is the best movie I have ever seen because of the great morals and the way these kids change. It teaches valuable lessons as well as a great family movie. It shows the importance of not judging people and to look through their point of view. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who likes action, a great moral movie, and someone who likes happy endings. The morals keep building and the movie keeps you wanting more.

lwg7daimlerchrysler (13 May 2012)

Another Oscar For Hillary Swank!

Freedom Writers is truly a great great movie in terms of it's truth,authenticity and simplicity - along with revealing the power of truth,knowledge, and the human experience.Hillary Swank deserves another Oscar for her role - this is one of herbest roles yet.As an educator - I employ all teachers, students, and parents to seethis awesome movie.This movie tells how one person can make a change - a change that wouldaffect generations to come.Patrick Dempsey's role was also great.Go and see Freedom Writers.

wonkatania3 (12 May 2012)

Fine By Me

I walked into the movie theater with the ticket in my hand thinkingabout how many other movies I have seen like the one I am about towatch. "Remember the Titans", "Stand and Deliver", "Dangerous Minds",and the list goes on and on. And so I sat in my comfy chair that rocksback and forth so my back doesn't get stiff. Of course, my theater hasstadium seating so someone's big head doesn't get in the way of mymovie experience. And of course, I had to sit in the row with therailing in front of it so I could put my feet up, because I wasn'tgoing to be uncomfortable while I play critic for this movie...what areyou, crazy? Then, the movie began. and it ran and I was quiet. Ilaughed a little and cried a little, but not for one second was Icriticizing. As I saw the characters go through their horribly troubledlives and while I was reminded of little Anne Frank, I became somewhatguilty about silently complaining that I got the squeaky seat or thatmy friend ate all the popcorn five minutes into the movie.Likewise, when the movie was over, I had nothing negative to say. Itwasn't that I was biting my tongue, it was that I wasn't payingattention to the mistakes of the movie (wherever they were) because Iwas so engrossed in the plot...you know, the one I said had been donebefore. the movie made me realize that gang violence and racialintolerance are just as big issues today as EVER. And I decided that aslong as people are isolated because of their race and as long as peopleinnocently die in the midst of a gang war, it's okay for this plot tolive on...it gives hope to those who go to bed with one eye open, andwho go to school everyday wondering if they'll live to see their owngraduation.And for me? For someone like me who complains about hastily eatenpopcorn? It makes me count my blessings just a LITTLE bit morefrequently. And any movie with a tired, overdone plot that can dothat...well, it's fine by me.

Ken Hanke (10 May 2012)

Freedom Writers will work for viewers with a penchant for this particular subgenre, but others might well find it too much of the same old thing.

KaRi ThePrimeSpot.com (10 May 2012)

"Freedom Writers" Movie LONG BEACH, CA

I work in the three zip codes surrounding Wilson H.S. in Long Beach, CAand now wonder how many Freedom Writers (unbeknownst to me) have signedfor Express Mail! I can start my route in Cambodia Town and 15 minslater find myself at the mailboxes of mini mansions of Naples andBelmont Shore.I've seen kids attacking each other along my beat on their way homefrom school. I've seen the helicopters hover and the cops close streetsdue to homicide at 10:30am. I've been in the midst of a clobberingmyself when a "White Power" couple started in on my colorful group offriends at a club inside a bowling alley (RIP).Long Beach is the most diverse city in the nation and, where you havedifferences you HAVE FEAR. (I am willing to bet that cars that havetinted windows get shot at more than those without tint due to "fear ofthe unknown"). It's a place where you're gunned down because of the music you listento, the bike you ride, the language you speak, the clothes you wear.(Of course the city has lovely safe areas near the beach and touristspots ;) The FREEDOM WRITERS movie characters all have names, but in the book"Freedom Writers Diary", the writers are anonymous. They are labeled bytheir journal entry numbers which have been creatively woven together,seamlessly connecting their own personal sorrows, challenges, andchaotic homelives. (Eva reminds me of Roma, a LB Mom who lost her sonPaul in a drive-by when he was looking to buy a car with his earnings!) The teacher, Ms. Gruwell is married to someone who first appears tosomewhat support her effort but he is definitely not ON her team. (Hereminds me of my own exhusband who told me I couldn't change theworld). As Ms. G realizes her student's priorities are SURVIVAL notstudying, she creatively personalizes music, books, movies, andexperiences from kids around the world who share their plight. Herclassroom becomes a safe haven, a second (and preferred) home to herstudents, some who were evicted and homeless. These "loser" kids whoweren't expected to stay in class begin to have a yearning for learningenvied by the school's "smarter" kids.The Diary of ANNE FRANK inspires meetings with Holocaust survivors aswell as ZLATA FILIPOVIC from Sarajevo, a young girl the same age asGruwell's students who writes the books Foreword (a masterpiece initself I might add!) To quote Zlata, "The Freedom Writers chose tobreak this cycle " ... of anger, hatred, fear ... " and make theirpositive (learning) experiences a lesson for generations to come."Gruwell didn't just change the lives of 150 students she empowered, sheaffected Long Beach's future crime rate AND is currently empoweringteachers everywhere! (See GruwellProject dot org)I'd love to see ERIN GRUWELL meet with Long Beach Chief of PoliceANTHONY BATTS and THOMAS SWIERINGA (a Long Beach Local who has a BlackBelt in Six Sigma) so they can apply "Freedom" to the general public.Gruwell's contagious attitude and quest for tolerance belongs not onlyin the classroom but outside of it! (Note: The school system doesn'tseem to be promoting this movie, a friend who works for LB UnifiedSchool District thought it was a movie about a Los Angeles HS and aCSULB English Professor I met just today was CLUESS about it! Maybe she can get "Your Greatest Power" by J.Martin Kohe in everyclassroom (hospital, jail, etc.), implement retired teachers to "man"our libraries and retired police and military to secure our schools. There are many journal entries not depicted in the film (yet? Maybethere will be a sequel :). Pregnancy, A.D.D., obesity, homosexuality...I'm hoping FREEDOM WRITERS becomes a TV series, giving every kid inevery household the strength to Lead Not Follow and to Do The RightThing. Across the miles, across the cultural differences, across theyellow police tape.I gave an audio review of the movie today on TPSradio. Expect morefeedback from me on the air as soon as I get a copy of the soundtrack!PS "Your Greatest Power" is your power to CHOOSE. Now choose to seethis movie and take a kid with you! KaRi TPSraadio and "Celebrate OurDifferences" Slogan winner, USPS 90809.com