Freedom Writers (Widescreen Edition)
by Richard LaGravenese
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: April L. Hernandez, Hilary Swank, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey, Scott GlennDirector: Richard LaGravenese
Brand: Freedom
Producer: Hilary Swank
Writer: Richard LaGravenese
Producer: Daniel S. Levine
Producer: Danny DeVito
Producer: Jordana Glick-Franzheim
Writer: Erin Gruwell
Writer: Freedom Writers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 123 minutes
Published: 2007-04-01
DVD Release Date: 2007-04-17
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of Freedom Writers (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: Freedom Writers Is a Small Light in the Darkness
Summary: 5 Stars
Freedom Writers is an inspirational film with some edge. I'm glad the writers decided not to tone down the story too much, as most of the students came from "gang" environments, and the film showcases this with some scenes of gang violence. This actually makes the journey they take together all the more powerful because most of the students shown here are kids on the verge of ending up in jail or dead.
One thing that makes this movie work so well, is that the film has many powerful and touching moments in it. It isn't as formulaic in which the "big, powerful moment" only comes at the end.
Freedom Writers tells a true story of young Ellen Gruwell who is in her very first year of teaching at Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. She's eager and can't wait to get into the classroom. Being a teacher myself, I understand this enthusiasm. She finds herself amidst a number of Latino, African-American, and Asian students. Oh yeah, there's one caucasian student who, throughout the first half of the film, wishes he was anywhere else but there.
Ellen's first attempts to teach them anything fails. She can scarcely get their attention, much less teach them anything. These are the kids who have beent thrown into classrooms. Nobody really thinks they can do anything, and nobody else really cares if they succeed or not. One teacher tells Ellen, "If you can teach them some obedience and discipline, then you will have made a tremendous accomplishment." This isn't near enough "accomplishment" for Ellen. Despite being mistreated by most of the students, Ellen has something that even the students don't have: faith. She feels it in her bones that these kids can succeed.
Ellen's first hurdle is to gain the respect of the students. Most of them feel that she can never understand who they are, the lives they lead, and why they feel that life is all but hopeless for them. Ellen uses the example of the holocaust to finally begin to peak some interest in the class. Many of the students feel that they are living out their own version of the holocaust, since many of them pray that they will live to reach adulthood. She even takes them to a museum about the holocaust, and has some holocaust survivors speak to the students about their experiences (played in the film by actual holocaust survivors). This begins to have a very powerful and profound effect as the students begin to look within themselves.
However, Ellen's idea of creating a journal for the students was brilliant. Most people don't realize that writing is a very healing activity. Ellen gives them the freedom to write whatever they want. There are no requirements. If the students want her to read the journals (which isn't required) they can discreetly leave them in a cabinet in the classroom. Ellen probably thought she would be lucky to find even one journal there. However, she opens up the cabinet to find that the whole class has left their journals there for her to read. She finds herself learning and understanding her students in a very deep and personal way as the journals offer her a connection.
As a consequence, both Ellen and her students begin to develop a bond. Ellen creates a safe environment for them. Racial barriers quickly begin to fade, as each student realizes that they are not all that different from each other. Even the white student soon finds himself accepted and among friends as the hate and anger are replaced with tolerance, friendship, and understanding.
Hilary Swank is one of the best actresses today. She has such range with her abilities from "Boys Don't Cry" to "Million Dollar Baby." Swank brings Ellen Gruwell to life without making Gruwell seem larger than life. Gruwell has her own battles to fight, including getting two extra jobs so she can buy books and other things for her students. Swank is also able to bring Gruwell's naivety about teaching to light.
Imelda Stanton, one of the best character actresses in the business, is brilliant as Mrs. Campbell. She's a woman who has been teaching for nearly 30 years. She feels slighted that a woman with minimal teaching experience can come in and make a difference. And yet, sometimes it isn't the experience that is needed as much as the belief and faith in the students. I've seen teachers who have taught for a number of years who have lost that faith. They've given up. They simply go through the motions and try to get through a day. Mrs. Campbell embodies these teachers, and Stanton does this extremely well.
One of the most powerful moments in this film is when, after reading the "Diary of Anne Frank," the students want to meet the woman who hid Anne Frank. They hold fundraisers to earn enough money to send for her. She shows up and shares her experience. When one student stands up and says, "You are my hero." She quickly turns things around as an opportunity to empower these kids. "No, YOU are the heroes," she says. "Just because you are teenagers doesn't mean you can't be a small light in the darkness."
Ellen Gruwell gives everything of herself for these kids. She believes in them, even when nobody else does; not even members of their own families. Her dedication and devotion to them costs her her marriage. And despite the abuse she takes in the beginning, she never, NEVER loses her focus or her zeal and enthusiasm to teach and believe in her students.
"Freedom Writers" is a tremendous film about an extraordinary teacher with extraordinary students. Perhaps it demonstrates that what these kids want more than anything else, is for someone to believe in them; for someone to be a beacon and show them that they can change; that they can make different choices and that it is never too late.
Everyone can be a small light in the darkness. Ellen Gruwell is certainly that.
Summary of Freedom Writers (Widescreen Edition)
A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.Though the "inspirational teacher" theme may feel done to death, Freedom Writers succeeds because it emphasizes the students as much as the teacher. Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby, Boys Don't Cry) comes to a southern California high school bubbling over with naive optimism, but quickly discovers that her unruly classroom isn't easily won over by her good intentions. After a few floundering attempts to connect with her students, Gruwell gives them the assignment of keeping journals about their own lives--an assignment that the class bites into with relish, which eventually bonds them together and pushes racial rivalries aside. This plotline has been made before, sometimes well, sometimes poorly; Freedom Writers, by drawing heavily from the published journals of the students--and thanks to a (mostly) unheroic script, direction that emphasizes individual characters over stereotypes, and rigorous performances from the whole cast--makes the story seem fresh and genuine. Swank does solid work, but the standouts are April L. Hernandez as a girl whose gang wants her to lie and send an innocent boy to jail and Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) as a teacher who resents Gruwell's offbeat success. Also featuring Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy), Scott Glenn (The Right Stuff), and a plethora of strong young actors. --Bret Fetzer
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