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Average User Score: 9 (44 sources)

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halberdierv2

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considering this is based on a true story, whether the plot seems generic or not is unimportant. in fact, the message given from the movie should be taken more to heart than from other movies, considering that it shows you can get out of anything...
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considering this is based on a true story, whether the plot seems generic or not is unimportant. in fact, the message given from the movie should be taken more to heart than from other movies, considering that it shows you can get out of anything if you believe it. it had its flaws, like all movies do, but if you're smart, you can look past that.

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Posted nov 2, 2008 11:18 am pt

RHam_01

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The film is pretty good but not as good as some of the others in the same genre. But Hilary Swank gives a very competent performance.

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Posted aug 30, 2008 5:47 am pt

luluxinhapr

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I'll admit it, I never really had an urge to see this, the marketing, the plot, it all sounded all too familiar and clichéd and seemed like a 'Dangerous Minds' for the new millennium....and I'll be honest....yes, its formulaic, its...
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I'll admit it, I never really had an urge to see this, the marketing, the plot, it all sounded all too familiar and clichéd and seemed like a 'Dangerous Minds' for the new millennium....and I'll be honest....yes, its formulaic, its clichéd, no doubt about that, but what can you expect, from such a known idea, to say that has already been set in stone as 'familiar'? Freedom Writers take cliché and raises questions you would never expect to see raised, it never disrespects, it never discriminates, it raises worldwide questions about all races, religions and lives and answers them with true heart and sincerity and took me by surprise.
I did cry and I thought that the way she helped to introduce them to history and the story of Anne Frank was really cool.

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Posted sep 6, 2007 11:24 pm pt

RosAzzo

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I really think this is an amazing movie. I love the way the movie starts when you start believing how can she make a differance but when someone is really good they can do everything. She did not give up and that is what matters and they knew that...
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I really think this is an amazing movie. I love the way the movie starts when you start believing how can she make a differance but when someone is really good they can do everything. She did not give up and that is what matters and they knew that she did not want to give up on that so they appriciated it anfter they realised that she is on their side.

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Posted jun 2, 2007 4:46 pm pt

afq2846

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Freedom Writers is a movie about inner-city kids who are taught by a white teacher. The teacher helps them to see that there is more out there then gangs and such. She tells them to write their thoughts in a note book and basically she reads them....
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Freedom Writers is a movie about inner-city kids who are taught by a white teacher. The teacher helps them to see that there is more out there then gangs and such. She tells them to write their thoughts in a note book and basically she reads them. She uses the holocaust to tell them about gangs and how bad they are. The teacher is played by Swank and its an interesting choice for her to play. I was surprised that she did not play this part before and in watching this movie the ground covered in this movie has been covered before. It reminded me of Dangerous Minds or any other fish out of water movie that you have seen over and over again. The acting in this movie is average at best and its fairly predicatable to say the least. No surprises here even down to the ending. I have to say that this movie is cute and its worth a rental just to see the kids and their stories. I really think that the kids acting is pretty good even though many of them are amateurs.

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Posted may 12, 2007 12:03 am pt

Captious

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Based on the true story of a teacher who takes kids that are headed for very short lives and making them unite together in hopes that they get out of their gangs and actualy become something this is an amazing story and tells its audience that...
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Based on the true story of a teacher who takes kids that are headed for very short lives and making them unite together in hopes that they get out of their gangs and actualy become something this is an amazing story and tells its audience that there is hope for every young man and woman in a bad way.

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Posted apr 19, 2007 8:55 am pt

joshkedwards

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loved the moral and the heart warming story of teenagers rising to their full potential...if only the whining and blaming the world stopped earlier in the movie and the optimism took the reigns.

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Posted apr 16, 2007 5:27 pm pt

tenn77

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i think it's go be an good movie.A California teacher (Swank) working at an inner city school inspires her "at-risk" students by teaching them tolerance through literature.

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Posted feb 9, 2007 12:06 am pt

rokkuman09

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Freedom Writers is based on a true story about a teacher going to a new school and teaching inner city students. She teaches them a lot and many of the problems the students had with each other are fixed. She gives the students a new outlook on...
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Freedom Writers is based on a true story about a teacher going to a new school and teaching inner city students. She teaches them a lot and many of the problems the students had with each other are fixed. She gives the students a new outlook on life and many of them grow up to become the first people in their family to go to college. This a very moving story and I would recommend it to anyone.

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Posted jan 29, 2007 8:22 am pt

GeorgeJobson

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"Freedom Writers" is a powerful drama based on the life of a teacher who indroduced a teaching method to inner city students. this is better than most movies on the subject. Hilary Swak gave an impressive performance. I hope student who...
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"Freedom Writers" is a powerful drama based on the life of a teacher who indroduced a teaching method to inner city students. this is better than most movies on the subject. Hilary Swak gave an impressive performance. I hope student who come to the theatre see this movie. It's a learning experience.

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Posted jan 25, 2007 1:14 am pt

• [+] LA Weekly
  
  80
  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.

  by Scott Foundas | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Tribune
  
  75
  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.

  by Michael Wilmington | Read Full Review »
• [+] Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  
  75
  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.

  by Sean Axmaker | Read Full Review »
• [+] ReelViews
  
  75
  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.

  by James Berardinelli | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Onion (A.V. Club)
  
  75
  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.

  by Nathan Rabin | Read Full Review »
• [+] New York Daily News
  
  75
  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.

  by Jack Mathews | Read Full Review »
• [+] San Francisco Chronicle
  
  75
  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.

  by Ruthe Stein | Read Full Review »
• [+] Charlotte Observer
  
  75
  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.

  by Lawrence Toppman | Read Full Review »
• [+] Baltimore Sun
  
  75
  Freedom Writers is the rare inspirational-teacher film that is filled with genuine, jaw-dropping coups of real-life poetry.

  by Michael Sragow | Read Full Review »
• [+] Boston Globe
  
  75
  The movie works.

  by Ty Burr | Read Full Review »
• [+] Portland Oregonian
  
  75
  What makes Freedom Writers work is the very thing that makes it seem like a drag: predictable inspiration.

  by Marc Mohan | Read Full Review »
• [+] Entertainment Weekly
  
  75
  Square, sincere, and proud of it.

  by Lisa Schwarzbaum | Read Full Review »
• [+] Christian Science Monitor
  
  75
  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.

  by Peter Rainer | Read Full Review »
• [+] The New York Times
  
  70
  In Freedom Writers Hilary Swank uses neediness to fine effect in a film with a strong emotional tug and smartly laid foundation.

  by Manohla Dargis | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Reader
  
  70
  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.

  by J.R. Jones | Read Full Review »