Review of Freedom Writers (2007) by Lauren G — 12 Apr 2012

Not the most original story ever told (ie: dangerous minds) Freedom Writers had to fight a pretty steep uphill battle for my approval. Hilary Swank, staring is probably the only reason that I wanted to watch this, and her performance didn't disappoint.

While her character sometimes wasn't very rational, she was much more believable than any of the students- or any other characters for that matter. The soundtrack was a bit cliche, with lots of hip-hop because the kids apparently literally lived in a war-zone (according to the narration).

This sort of troubles me, because there are actually people all over the world who are actually fighting a wars and facing dangers that these kids were unjustified in comparing with. However, despite some of this film's downfalls, the story and Swank's performance was pretty moving to anyone who is an educator (ie.

my girlfriend) and so with that certain audience I can see how it could be a deeply inspiring movie. It's just unfortunate that it didn't have that sort of appeal to a broader audience.