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38
12 Rounds Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Freedom Writers
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MPAA RATING: PG-13 for violent content, some thematic material and language
Starring Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, April L. Hernandez, Mario, Kristin Herrera, and Jacklyn Ngan
Based on a true story and the diaries of real Long Beach teenagers after the L.A. riots, Freedom Writers is an inspirational tale and testimony to courage hope and the human spirit's triumph over intolerance. (Paramount)
| GENRE(S): | Drama |
| WRITTEN BY: |
Richard LaGravenese
Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell (book The Freedom Writers Diary) |
| DIRECTED BY: | Richard LaGravenese |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: April 17, 2007 Theatrical: January 5, 2007 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 123 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | Germany / USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 32 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Andrew G. gave it an8:
A solidly formulaic sappy movie that made me cry. Very mainstream, but entertaining nonetheless.
Bit B. gave it a10:
Incredibly inspirational and heart-felt. Great acting and cast. The whole Holocaust thing...powerful!
Becky gave it a5:
This movie was average and at times pretty boring. Hilary Swank is a great actress, but her talent wasted on an almost meaningless film. It's all about gangs and violence, so why does almost everything work out in the end? Yes, it had its touching moments, but should've gone farther with the gangs. This movie was too dragged out.
PnArdy PnArdy gave it a7:
Hillary Swank plays a school teacher in a bad neighborhood, who manages to become a second family and create a special kind of bond - trust, love and emotion - with her students in spite of all hardships. They call themselves Freedom Writers. Film is based on real events. Another good and rather difficult drama with Swank.
Chad S. gave it a3:
"Freedom Writers" is a story that should rightfully be told...in the form of a documentary. As vanity projects go, this earnest telling of an extraordinary teacher and her second chance pupils isn't "Battlefield Earth"-bad, but it's close. You get the sense that these inner-city kids have good hearts, however, the portrayal of their lives seem too sanitized to achieve versimilitude. At times, the film feels like "Boyz in the Hood" as rendered by the PAX network. There's also an odd episode or two that is more documentary than drama, which is an odd mix since the film makes no attempt at realism. This well-meaning film tries too hard to grab our hearts. The success and redemption of these hard-knock kids is somewhat blunted by an unwillingness on the filmmaker's part to be more objective about its subject.
Andrew K. gave it a5:
This movie was pretty entertaining. Nothing special. It had its moments. One of the better aspects of this film was that the students seemed very real. A lot of movies like this make the kids come off as unrealistic, but I felt the kids were a lot like people I went to high school with. Hilary Swank was good, as always. I found the aspect of her character's husband leaving her to be very telling. I've learned over the years that people tend to be very selfish in relationships, and that's why so many marriages fail. Obviously, this was based on true events, so it was interesting to see that part of the story. This one's not going to win any awards, but it was a well made film.
Enrique gave it a6:
Just an average feel-good movie. Good performances.
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