Freedom Writers
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| Freedom Writers | |
 Promotional movie poster for the film |
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| Directed by | Richard LaGravenese |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Danny DeVito Michael Shamberg Stacey Sher |
| Written by | Richard LaGravenese, based on The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell and her class. |
| Starring | Hilary Swank Patrick Dempsey Scott Glenn Imelda Staunton |
| Music by | Mark Isham, will.i.am, RZA |
| Cinematography | Jim Denault |
| Editing by | David Moritz |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | January 5, 2007 |
| Running time | 122 mins. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $21 million |
| Gross revenue | $43,090,741 |
Freedom Writers is a 2007 American film starring Hilary Swank, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton and Patrick Dempsey. It is based on the book The Freedom Writers Diary by teacher Erin Gruwell who wrote the story based on Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, California. The title is a play on both the terms of "Freedom Riders", the black and white civil rights activists who tested the U.S. Supreme Court decision ordering the desegregation of interstate buses in 1961, and Freedom Fighters, as in somebody who fights for freedom.
The idea for the film came from journalist Tracey Durning, who made a documentary about Erin Gruwell for the ABC News program Primetime Live. Durning served as co-executive producer of the film.
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[edit] Plot
The storyline of the movie takes place between 1992-1995, beginning with scenes from the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Hilary Swank plays the role of Erin Gruwell, a new, excited schoolteacher who leaves the safety of her hometown, Newport Beach, to teach at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, where a new integration program puts students of all backgrounds and races in classes together. Her enthusiasm quickly dwindles away when she realizes that her class (all at-risk students, also known as "unteachables") are not the happy-go-lucky eager students she was expecting. They must be forced into class by security guards and segregate themselves into racial groups in the classroom. The tension is apparent every time students from one race look at those from another. Not only does she meet opposition from her students, she also has a hard time with her department head, who believes she should focus less on teaching her students to learn and read, and more on teaching them discipline and obedience.
One night, two students, Eva and a Cambodian refugee, Sindy (Jaclyn Ngan), find themselves in the same convenience store. Another student, Grant Rice (Armand Jones), is frustrated at losing an arcade game and demands a refund from the owner. When he storms out, Eva's boyfriend attempts a driveby shooting, accidentally killing Sindy's boyfriend. As Eva is a witness, she must testify at court; she intends to protect her own kind in her testimony.
At school, Gruwell intercepts a racist drawing of one of her students and uses it to teach them about the Holocaust. She gradually begins to earn their trust and buys them composition books to record their diaries, in which they talk about their experiences of being abused, seeing their friends die, and being evicted. Determined to reform her students, she takes two part-time jobs to pay for more books and spends more time at school, to the disappointment of her husband (Patrick Dempsey). Her students start to behave with respect and learn more. A transformation is especially visible in one of her students, Marcus (Jason Finn). She invites several Holocaust survivors to talk with her class about their experiences and takes them on a field trip to the Museum of Tolerance. Meanwhile, her unorthodox teaching methods are scorned by her colleagues and department chair Margaret Campbell (Imelda Staunton). The next year comes, and Gruwell teaches her class again for sophomore year.
In class, when reading The Diary of a Young Girl, they invite Miep Gies to talk to them. After fundraising the money to bring her over, she tells them her experiences hiding Anne Frank. When Marcus tells her that she is his hero, she denies it, claiming she was merely doing the right thing. Her denial causes Eva to rethink lying during her testimony. When she testifies, she finally breaks down and tells the truth, much to some family members demise. Meanwhile, Gruwell asks her students to write their diaries book form. She compiles the entries and names it The Freedom Writers Diary.
Her husband divorces her and Margaret tells her she cannot teach her kids for their junior year. She fights this decision, eventually convincing the superintendent to allow her to teach her kids' junior and senior year. The film ends with a note that Gruwell successfully brought many of her students to graduation and college.
[edit] Soundtrack
- See also: Freedom Writers (soundtrack)
Common has lent his talents to the soundtrack with "A Dream" (featuring will.i.am). The song was produced by Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am. The soundtrack also includes the Tupac Shakur song "Keep Ya Head Up".
Instrumental sections of Sia's "Breathe Me" accompany the film's television trailer.
[edit] Rating
This film was given a final rating of PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for violent content, some thematic material, and language.
[edit] Cast
- Hilary Swank as Erin Gruwell
- Patrick Dempsey as Scott Casey
- Scott Glenn as Steve Gruwell
- Imelda Staunton as Margaret Campbell
- April Lee Hernández as Eva Benitez
- Mario as Andre Bryant
- Kristin Herrera as Gloria Munez
- Jaclyn Ngan as Sindy Ngor
- Sergio Montalvo as Alejandro Santiago
- Jason Finn as Marcus
- Deance Wyatt as Jamal Hill
- Vanetta Smith as Brandy Ross
- Gabriel Chavarria as Tito
- Hunter Parrish as Ben Samuels
- Antonio García as Miguel
- Giovonnie Samuels as Victoria
- John Benjamin Hickey as Brian Gelford
- Robert Wisdom as Dr. Carl Cohn
- Pat Carroll as Miep Gies
- Armand Jones as Grant Rice
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- Freedom Writers at the Internet Movie Database
- Freedom Writers at Allmovie
- Freedom Writers at Box Office Mojo
- Freedom Writers at Rotten Tomatoes
- Freedom Writers at Metacritic
- Freedom Writers Production Notes
- eFilmCritic.com interview with educator Erin Gruwell and real-life Freedom Writer Maria Reyes on "Freedom Writers"
- 'Cinematical' interview with Erin Gruwell, Jason Finn, and Maria Reyes
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