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FREEDOM WRITERS
STARRING Hilary Swank and a bunch of hard-luck kids
DIRECTED BY Richard LaGravanese
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On a scale of one to 10 in the rough-school/inspirational-leader camp of cinema, Freedom Writers actually scores good marks in the triad of writing, directing and acting. Until recently, my love of this genre began and ended with Lean on Me, about the tough but fair renegade principal Joe Clark, played brilliantly by Morgan Freeman. While incorporating some similar situations, Freedom Writers tells a different story that is just as moving and entertaining.
Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) gets her first teaching gig at a high school in Long Beach, California. She faces challenges she never expected, including students at war with one another, teachers who underestimate the potential of the kids in her class – and of Gruwell herself, a slightly skeptical, yet supportive father (Scott Glenn) and a completely unenthusiastic (and un-McDreamy) husband (Patrick Dempsey). It’s safe to say that throughout the course of the film, the characters learn something about each other and even more about themselves.
True that the synopsis, in so many words, does nothing to transcend the stereotypical Hollywood fable, but this film succeeds in the details. First, it’s based on a true story. Erin Gruwell is a real person and the script is based on The Freedom Writers Diary. Embellishments aside, you can’t fault this movie for being too sentimental in referencing actual people and situations. Director Richard LaGravanese, who also wrote the screenplay, gives real power to the words of these students by making a few simple stylistic choices. Despite the rough subject matter, transitions between plotlines are delicate and they build substance without sacrificing pace or performance.
In order for the film to mean something, a strong cast of youths is essential. Although far from perfect, there is a great presence from every actor in this category and they relay the vulnerability, angst and humour of adolescence with ease. Swank is likable as the naive, but persistent Gruwell, who goes out of her way to see her students succeed. Imelda Staunton is unrecognizable as the uptight school administrator and Glenn is perfectly cast as Gruwell’s concerned father.
Some flaws arrive in the passage of time, which is one of the only elements to betray the intended un-Hollywood feel of the production. It seems unbelievable that students who were ready to kill or be killed by their classmates are literally leaning on one another and having a fabulous interracial party 40 minutes later. If you can remember that 40 minutes in Hollywood is like two years in Long Beach, you should be able to survive the sentimentality.
Freedom Writers isn’t a story about a white person saving the day or an adult rescuing a group of teens – it’s about several voices that wanted to be heard and a person who wanted to listen. It may be manipulative and predictable, but it is quite touching, fun to watch and, if you’re in the right mood, it just might surprise you. |
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