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"Today, We Will Be
Learning How to Dress
Like Laura Bush." |
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Directed by Richard
LaGravenese - Written by
Richard LaGravenese
Starring Hilary Swank,
Imelda Staunton, Patrick
Dempsey, Scott Glenn
Distributed by Paramount -
2007 - 123m - Rated PG13 |
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Richard Propes'
Review
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C+ |
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It's easy to understand why Oscar winner Hilary Swank was attracted to
the "Freedom Writers" project and, thus, served as its Executive
Producer. |
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It's even easy to
understand why the decision was made to cast Swank in the lead role
of the "fish out of water" new teacher, Erin Gruwell.
"Freedom Writers," based upon the experiences of real-life
inspirational educational consultant Erin Gruwell, a forward
thinking, innovative teacher who gets detoured on her way to law
school by her desire to be more directly involved in improving
children's lives and, thus, becomes a teacher. Her father (played by
Scott Glenn) was an activist in the civil rights era, events that
clearly inspired her even as he has seemingly turned towards more
commercial ventures.
Gruwell arrives at her first teaching assignment, a recently
forcibly integrated Long Beach, California high school not long
after the South Central riots, full of ideas, enthusiasm and
marvelous intentions...but clueless to the harsh realities of
everyday life for her mix of Whites (okay, actually only one),
Blacks, Latinos and Cambodians. Her husband (Patrick Dempsey)
respects her motives, but, as we learn time and again, is fairly
lacking in direction himself and doesn't quite get it.
Despite the truth of Gruwell's story, there's little about "Freedom
Writers" that feels particularly original or authentic. It's
practically impossible to sit through the film without flashing back
to a wide variety of inspired teacher/downtrodden student flicks,
including the last decade's barrage of White teacher inspires
minority student films such as "Music of the Heart" and "Dangerous
Minds" among others.
As in these other films, Gruwell meets opposition from burned out,
uninspired teachers such as the department head (Imelda Staunton)
and the Honors English instructor (John Benjamin Hickey). Virtually
all of the actors portraying Gruwell's freshman students are, in
fact, twentysomething actors, however, all perform admirably with a
particularly strong performance from April Lee Hernandez as Eva, a
young Latino girl faced with a rather horrifying decision to make
regarding an upcoming trial.
Writer/Director Richard LaGravenese (Director of "Living Out Loud"
and "Paris je t'aime" along with screenwriter for films such as "The
Fisher King" and "Bridges of Madison County") offers a competent,
yet often inexplicably disorganized production with "Freedom
Writers," a film that actually begged for a harsher, more credible
presentation than its MTV Films moniker and PG-13 rating would
allow.
The film starts off clearly centered on Eva's story before, about 30
minutes into the film shifting its focus to Gruwell's tireless
efforts on behalf of the children. Multiple scenes feel incomplete
and/or poorly edited, most notably the film's early obsession with
Gruwell's pearl necklace that is, quite suddenly, never referenced
again. There's a scene where Gruwell appears to get it...she should
NOT be wearing a pearl necklace in the school. We see her taking off
the necklace and, the next day appears more down-to-earth in the
classroom.
Then, suddenly the necklace reappears without ever being addressed
again. It's difficult to imagine that the screenwriter for "The
Fisher King," a markedly chaotic script, could somehow lose track of
such a basic point in a fairly straightforward film.
It's interesting, as well, that LaGravenese spends the first 1/3 of
the film convincing us that everyday life for these students is
filled with gangs, drive-bys, constant threats, etc...BUT once
Gruwell begins to reach them we suddenly see community-mixing
fundraisers, social events, peaceful neighborhood walks and,
surprisingly, no sign of conflict anywhere around them.
While I can accept that Gruwell improved the student's lives, did
she suddenly make the Whites, Blacks, Cambodians and Latinos of Long
Beach get along? It all plays just a bit too smooth to be
believable.
It goes without saying, especially for those who have read 1999's
"The Freedom Writers Diary," that Gruwell will reach these students
and improve their lives. It goes without saying that she will buck
the system and turn these young people into an empowered community.
Let's be honest. It all goes without saying.
Yet, through the remarkable predictability, familiarity and, at
times, poorly developed characters, there IS something about
"Freedom Writers" that works.
Swank is, at least partially, responsible for the success of
"Freedom Writers"...at least once she gets past that irritating,
constant smile that she displays in the film's early scenes. It made
me wonder if she was, perhaps, channeling Julia Roberts. Halfway
through the film, however, Gruwell gets a bit edgier, more driven
and more assertive. From the midway point on, Swank's performance is
toned down and more convincing. Once her character draws out
comparisons between gang life and the Holocaust, Swank herself comes
to life and her performance is energized and convicting.
As her long-suffering husband, Patrick Dempsey is given little to do
and does little with it. Having viewed Dempsey's marvelous
performance in a recent short film called "Shade," it was
particularly disconcerting to see Dempsey's detached, uninspired
performance here. This is particularly noticeable during his scenes
with Swank, with whom he has an uncomfortable lack of chemistry.
Glenn, much like Swank, doesn't begin to shine until the film's
midway point, and Staunton (Oscar nominee for "Vera Drake") is more
humorously cartoonish than anything resembling a well-developed
character or obstacle for Gruwell.
The film's production values are simple, yet effective with the film
actually having been shot in Los Angeles. The music, composed by
will.i.am and Mark Isham, is particularly effective with the perfect
blend of hip-hop, rap, soul and interspersed historical dialogue.
"Freedom Writers" does include 2007's first blatant use of product
placement, a scene so obvious that it was actually jarring to my
senses.
While "Freedom Writers" is less inspiring than its real-life
subjects, it remains a powerful, often moving film about the power
we all have to change our own lives and, in turn, the responsibility
we have to give that hope away.
"Freedom Writers," despite all its structural and editing flaws, is
a surprisingly touching, occasionally funny and inspirational film
likely to please those who appreciated films such as "Mr. Holland's
Opus" and "Music of the Heart," while it is a stronger entry than
the similar urban school drama "Dangerous Minds." Destined to be
reviled by critics who loathe cinematic manipulation, "Freedom
Writers" is, nonetheless, a surprisingly satisfying beginning to the
2007 year in film. |
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© Written by Richard Propes -
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