Freedom Writers is inspired by a true story and the diaries of real Long Beach teenagers after the LA riots, during the worst outbreak of interracial gang warfare. Hilary Swank stars as Erin Gruwell, whose passion to become a teacher is soon challenged by a group of Black, Latino, and Asian gangbangers who hate her even more than each other. When Erin begins to listen to them in a way no adult has ever done, she begins to understand that for these kids, getting through the day alive is enough. Erin gives them something they never had from a teacher before -- respect. For the first time, these teens experience a hope that maybe, they might show the world that their lives matter and they have something to say.
This is one of those movies where if you saw the preview/commercial - you basically saw the movie. It's also a textbook teacher who reaches out to hurting kids movie. The last two times I saw this movie, it was called Lean On Me with Morgan Freeman playing the teacher and Dangerous Minds with Michelle Pheiffer playing the teacher. Although the movie was totally formula and choc full of cliches, it was still pretty enjoyable. These movies are either made or broken by the cast of kids and this one had some pretty good characters involved. I also liked that they let a bunch of the different kids narrate what was happening at different times. I'm a big fan of narration and this movie had a lot of it.
I wouldn't have recommended that anyone rush out to theaters to see this. However, it's definitely worth the rental fee and worth checking out now.
