KEY POINTS:
Samuel L. Jackson did it with discipline and basketball in Coach Carter, Antonio Banderas did it with ballroom dancing in Take the Lead, and in Freedom Writers, Hilary Swank instills self respect into her students with words and stories of the Holocaust.
Set in 1994, two years after the notorious LA riots, this classroom drama is based on the true story of young, idealistic, middle-class teacher Erin Gruwell (Swank), who gets more than she bargains for when she turns up to her first teaching job at Wilson High School.
Her freshman class of "unteachable kids" comprises rival gangs of Latinos, Blacks and Asians, and they have even less time for her than they do for each other.
She is to teach them English, although her colleagues think Gruwell will be winning if she can just teach them some discipline.
Her students are more interested in staying alive than in English, which is harder than it sounds in the gang-ravaged Long Beach area where they live.
Gruwell struggles to communicate and control her students. When she finds a racist cartoon circulating, she decides to give them a lesson on racism, and discovers they know nothing about the Holocaust. She then opens their eyes to how devastating racial conflict can be.
While the dangers of intolerance is a worthy lesson, the idea that teenagers have something to say and should be listened to is what makes this film more than just a predictable "overcome the odds" flick.
Gruwell encourages her students to keep journals as an outlet for their frustration and anger, and as a tool for them to discover similarities between each other. The film is based on these diary entries, and they provide narration through the film.
Swank's cheerleading persona, her love of making glitter-filled banners, and her optimism are too perky at times, but at least she refrains from making Gruwell cool. Her naive determination and geekiness is one of the charming things about her, and Swank manages to put some real heart into her do-gooder soul.
English actress Imelda Staunton does a wonderful job of being Gruwell's uptight head of department, although disappointingly, Patrick Dempsey as Gruwell's husband just churns out his McDreamy routine.
The mostly unknown cast of students contribute fine performances; the only problem is that they look 17 rather than 14.
Freedom Writers is a cross between Michelle Pfeiffer's Dangerous Minds and the documentary Paper Clips, about an American High School's Holocaust project. Although this feel-good drama sounds like something you've seen before, it's a story worth seeing again.
Cast: Hilary Swank, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Running Time: 123 mins
Rating: M, violence and offensive language
Screening: Hoyts, SkyCity and Berkeley cinemas
Verdict: A predictable but inspirational classroom drama
