Freedom Writers 2007

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Never quite succeeds as anything more than Dangerous Minds Redux. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's a truly inspiring story; pity the movie doesn't live up to it. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Hilary Swank gives a powerhouse performance as a maverick high school teacher in Freedom Writers, an often gripping and sometimes even inspiring film. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: LaGravenese has incorporated some of the real students' piercingly honest diary entries and rounded up an engaging cast of unknowns and young actors (April Hernandez, Kristin Herrera, Hunter Parrish) to channel their anger and hopelessness. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: [Swank] makes Erin a very specific person, a woman who risks everything else in her life for these kids, whether it's taking two extra jobs or charming the school superintendent with her wide smile and boundless energy. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: Thanks to LaGravenese's empathetic writing and direction, and Swank's titanic force of will, Freedom Writers' unabashed earnestness proves unexpectedly powerful. Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: Try as they might, the kids in Freedom Writers can't break free from Hollywood formula. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: The kids' individual triumphs seem satisfyingly hard-won. Read more

Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times: Swank shows that in the right role her unusually disarming talent can elevate routine material. Read more

Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle: This film fails to earn what Erin Gruwell earned in real life: credibility. Read more

Tom Charity, CNN.com: Freedom Writers is another exceptional teacher scenario not so different from the norm. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Engaging but cliched inspirational drama set during the time of the 1992 race riots in Los Angeles. On some level, just about any movie featuring never-say-die teachers is effective. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: There's a straight-ahead spirit to Freedom Writers that lifts it above its too-many peers in the 'troubled youth' category of films. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Square, sincere, and proud of it. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: What is profoundly different about this based-on-fact film is that although we leave the theater wishing there were more teachers as devoted as the one depicted here. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: It's not a great movie, but at-risk teens could do a lot worse. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: In the hands of writer-director Richard LaGravenese, Freedom Writers turns out to be a superb piece of mainstream entertainment. Read more

David Germain, Associated Press: Despite occasional moments of inspiration, Freedom Writers simplistically focuses on maudlin highlights and glosses over the obstacles to rallying a dangerously disparate group of youths more accustomed to loathe than trust one another. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Freedom Writers takes plenty of shots at the system, too, and makes the quite righteous statement that only through individual effort does anything wrong ever really get changed. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: An unashamed heart-tugger, Freedom Writers is based on the true story of Erin Gruwell, a teacher so full of gee-whiz decency she can only be played by Hilary Swank. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: An educational fantasy that happens to be mostly true. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: One teacher can make a difference in a troubled student's life. I learned this from To Sir, with Love, Dangerous Minds and Van Halen's Hot for Teacher video. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: An old-fashioned great-teacher-turns-bad-students-into-scholars story that ranks up there with Stand and Deliver. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: For those who see it, the movie has a chance to connect. Freedom Writers is superior to what film-goers typically expect from an early January release. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: At a time when New Year's resolutions to change already are falling by the wayside, you can't help but be moved by a group of young people who followed through on their resolve. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Teresa Budasi, Chicago Sun-Times: Freedom Writers, which has a lot to say about education and the flaws in the American public-school system, gets high marks -- for effort and for merit. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Freedom Writers is a tribute to individualism wrapped in the most conformist of packages, one of those pictures where the message of the tale is flatly contradicted by the manner of the telling. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: Freedom Writers confounds its own claims to veracity by coming across as a veritable textbook in itself -- a textbook of earnest, liberal, white-woman-in-the-blackboard jungle cliches. Read more

Time Out: Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The story feels like a rehash of movies we've seen, such as Stand and Deliver, Dangerous Minds and Take the Lead. If Swank's character weren't so saintly, the story might be more convincing. Read more

John Anderson, Variety: Although Freedom Writers is the latest in a long line of saint-saves-students stories, it takes the bold approach of being earnest, honest and unafraid to be called naive. As a result, it's extremely affecting. Read more

Rob Nelson, Village Voice: Our eager-beaver heroine suffers the kids' sarcasm, fails to earn their respect by bringing in a Tupac tape, then wins them over in a crucial scene that, fact-based or not, rings as false as anything in Dangerous Minds. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Offers a sort of Chinese food poignancy, the kind that may seem satisfying at the time but ultimately leaves us hungering for more, for something authentic. Maybe that's why we keep coming back. Read more