Freedom Writers film review

certificate_12A

FREEDOM WRITERS

It seems that every month there is a new film in which a mentor/instructor/teacher takes on a group of challenged/urban/ethnically diverse kids and inspires them on the road to prosperity through some good old-fashioned courage and determination. Yet Freedom Writers takes a hackneyed concept and turns it into something rather special.

Double-Oscar winner Hilary Swank plays real-life teacher Erin Grewell, a consistent beam of smiling sunshine who defies her father and husband's wishes and takes a job at the tough Long Beach High School, where the kids are radically separated along self-imposed ethnic lines. Grewell's initial attempts to extol the virtues of Homer fall on deaf ears, as the kids are preoccupied with the dangers lurking in their violent neighbourhood. Nevertheless through sheer persistence, guile and a masterstroke which elevates the film into something special about halfway through its running time, Swank's Grewell slowly begins to get through to her charges.

Before you ask yourself 'Didn't Michelle Pfeiffer do all of this ten years ago in Dangerous Minds?', the answer is yes, but not as well. Freedom Writers is brave enough to take a familiar concept and spin it into something new, and it's often a highly emotional affair.

Swank is compelling as the never-say-never teacher who is prepared to sacfrice even the love of her father and husband in order to help her students, who are played by a young cast of unknowns, several of whom show enough talent to have successful futures ahead of them. This is entertaining and heartfelt stuff from director and writer Richard LaGravenese.

Paul Hurley