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Freedom Writers (Widescreen Edition) Review

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.

Freedom Writers (Widescreen Edition) Overview

A YOUNG TEACHER INSPIRES HER CLASS OF AT-RISK STUDENTS TO LEARN TOLERANCE, APPLY THEMSELVES & PURSUE EDUCATION BEYOND HIGHSCHOOL.

Freedom Writers (Widescreen Edition) Specifications

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

Beyond Freedom Writers