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Actors: Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, April L. Hernandez Director: Richard LaGravenese Rating: Features: Color, Full Screen, NTSC Number of Discs: 1 Running Time: 122 minutes Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Release Date: April 17, 2007 Theatrical Release Date: January 5, 2007 Studio: Paramount
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DESCRIPTION
Hilary Swank stars in this story about a teacher in a racially divided school who gives her students what they ve always needed - a voice. Swank plays Erin Gruwell the real-life teacher at Long Beach s Wilson High who inspired her students to overcome the gangs that divided them and the education system that forgot them. Based on the book The Freedom Writers Diary and supported by a cast of first-time actors who drew from their actual experiences on the street Gruwell teaches us all an important lesson about tolerance and trust.System Requirements:Running Time: 122 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG - 13 UPC: 097361243245 Manufacturer No: 124324
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
More Inspirational Teacher Films on DVD
The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell
More DVDs Starring Hilary Swank
Stills from Freedom Writers click for larger image
