Freedom Writers

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

It all sounds like a recipe for the most noxious liberal jerk-off movie since "Crash," but in the hands of writer-director Richard LaGravenese, Freedom Writers turns out to be a superb piece of mainstream entertainment -- not an agonized debate over the principles of modern education à la "The History Boys," but a simple, straightforward and surprisingly affecting story of one woman who managed to make a difference.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Hilary Swank gives a powerhouse performance as a maverick high school teacher in Freedom Writers, an often gripping and sometimes even inspiring film drama taken from the real-life story of Erin Gruwell.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) is real, and for all the dramatic license that writer/director Richard LaGravenese takes in his film, her story -- and the stories of her students -- are moving.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Freedom Writers delivers the expected messages about hope and the ability to change one's destiny, and does it in a manner that it is emotionally and intellectually satisfying.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Though the film seldom strays from formula, there's something strangely moving about Swank's conviction that, in spite of everything, people are really good at heart.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

I say bring 'em on, if the stories can be told as well, as convincingly and as inspirationally as Richard LaGravenese's Freedom Writers, an educational fantasy that happens to be mostly true.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

Overall Freedom Writers is a noble effort. 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.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The movie is based on the life of California high school teacher Erin Gruwell, played with captivating honesty by Hilary Swank, yet it feels like the usual Hollywood exaggerations.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Freedom Writers is the rare inspirational-teacher film that is filled with genuine, jaw-dropping coups of real-life poetry.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

The movie works.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

What makes Freedom Writers work is the very thing that makes it seem like a drag: predictable inspiration.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Square, sincere, and proud of it.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

If you've seen "To Sir, With Love," "Dead Poet's Society," "The Corn is Green," or "Stand and Deliver" - to take a random sample - you've already seen much of this movie. Swank is good, though, and so is Patrick Dempsey as her suffering husband.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

In Freedom Writers Hilary Swank uses neediness to fine effect in a film with a strong emotional tug and smartly laid foundation.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Luckily 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.

Variety John Anderson

It takes the bold approach of being earnest, honest and unafraid to be called naive. As a result, it's extremely affecting.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

Dramatically, the movie never veers from its predictable course, but Swank's performance renders the point moot. There likely was a better, more original movie to be made focusing more on the Freedom Writers themselves, but if this more conventional direction had to be taken, it's hard to imagine a more affecting version.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Formulaic though it is, the story hits the right emotional buttons and promises that hope and dogged work trump despair.

New York Post Kyle Smith

Swank's character, Erin Gruwell, is a real educator who, in the years following the Rodney King riots, coaxed her students into writing about their bullet-riddled lives.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Leave it to Hilary Swank. Even when her film's pace lags behind its cliches, she sparks this true story, about a California teacher who sparks her students, with the passion the subject demands.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

It 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.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Freedom Writers is an earnest, well-meaning attempt at inspirational teen drama. It has some moving scenes and honest observations, based on a school in Long Beach, Calif., but the movie sinks under the weight of formula and stereotypes.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

The film is both too short and too long at two hours-plus. Not enough time is spent with the teens and far too much with their teacher.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Freedom Writers is prone to throwing in unnecessary plot developments, so it never quite succeeds as anything more than "Dangerous Minds" Redux.

Village Voice Rob Nelson

Reaction shots of the class's befuddled white boy are played for cheap laughs, but writer-director Richard LaGravenese otherwise keeps it real by recruiting cinematographer Jim Denault from Indieville High and Imelda Staunton--here playing Bitchy Old Department Head.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

In the recent "Half Nelson," a similarly themed classroom pic, liberalism struggled to balance its lingering hopes with its systemic despair. That film was pure fiction, yet felt absolutely true. This one is apparent fact, yet seems abjectly false.

Empire Liz Beardsworth

Despite solid work from the engaging cast, there’s nothing new here to distinguish Freedom Writers.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

For my money, no movie comes close to capturing the high school experience like "The Substitute."

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

The movie itself offers few real answers to the problems teachers face.