DVD : Freedom Writers [HD DVD]

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: HD DVD
Brand: PARAMOUNT PICTURES
EAN: 0097361243801
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Label: Paramount Home Video
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Paramount Home Video
Release Date: May 22, 2007
Running Time: 122 minutes
Studio: Paramount Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: January 05, 2007
Sales Rank: 55144
MPN: 124380

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
"Freedom Writers" is inspired by a true story and the diaries of real Long Beach teenagers after the LA riots during the worst outbreak of interracial gang warfare.Hilary Swank stars as Erin Gruwell whose passion to become a teacher is soon challenged by a group of Black Latino and Asian gangbangers who hate her even more than each other. When Erin begins to listen to them in a way no adult has ever done she begins to understand that for these kids getting through the day alive is enough -- they are not delinquents but teenagers fighting "a war of the streets" that began long before they were born.Erin gives them something they never had from a teacher before -- respect. For the first time these teens experience a hope that maybe they might show the world that their lives matter and they have something to say.Run Time: 122 minutesFormat: DVD HD Genre: DRAMA UPC: 097361243801 Manufacturer No: 124380

Amazon.com:
Though the "inspirational teacher" theme may feel done to death, Freedom Writers succeeds because it emphasizes the students as much as the teacher. Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby, Boys Don't Cry) comes to a southern California high school bubbling over with naive optimism, but quickly discovers that her unruly classroom isn't easily won over by her good intentions. After a few floundering attempts to connect with her students, Gruwell gives them the assignment of keeping journals about their own lives--an assignment that the class bites into with relish, which eventually bonds them together and pushes racial rivalries aside. This plotline has been made before, sometimes well, sometimes poorly; Freedom Writers, by drawing heavily from the published journals of the students--and thanks to a (mostly) unheroic script, direction that emphasizes individual characters over stereotypes, and rigorous performances from the whole cast--makes the story seem fresh and genuine. Swank does solid work, but the standouts are April L. Hernandez as a girl whose gang wants her to lie and send an innocent boy to jail and Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) as a teacher who resents Gruwell's offbeat success. Also featuring Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy), Scott Glenn (The Right Stuff), and a plethora of strong young actors. --Bret Fetzer

Beyond Freedom Writers

More Inspirational Teacher Films on DVD

The Freedom Writers Diary
by Erin Gruwell

More DVDs Starring Hilary Swank

Stills from Freedom Writers (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- It was great!
This was a great movie that really inspires me to go out and be the best teacher that I can despite all the people who are trying to bring me down,

Rating:

- Patrick Dempsey was the sole flaw
I am not a fan of Patrick Dempsey in the least. Therefore, he bothered me in this movie. That is the solitary flaw.

Now that I have that said, this is one of the best movies for all of us saps who love something inspirational. Being a teacher, albeit of grade school, this tribute to the book and its authors especially touched me.

The acting is beside the point. Good performances, there you go. It's the story that makes this movie, a story that takes in gang-related kids ... Read More

Rating:

- Ummm...a bit more than just another teacher saving the sweat hogs story
I read a few reviews of this movie, and I realized something that I thought was pretty well presented in this film: not everyone's reality is the same as mine...you might not see the same movie I saw. First, this is based on a true story. A teacher inspires a class to believe in themselves and change the attitude of a hopeless community. I don't think there is a situation in the film where people feel sorry for each other, they learn to understand and accept each other. Which is probably the worst thing ... Read More

Rating:

- It's a Movie about Writing, Badly Written
Leaving no cliche unturned, Freedom Writers is another in a long line of "uplifting" movies about inner city school kids moved to greatness by a struggling, selfless rookie teacher. I'm sure the true story upon which this disaster was based was indeed inspiring, but this movie was realized in such a leaden, ham-fisted and amateurish fashion, it took all of the self-discipline I could muster to keep watching through to the end. Barely literate high-school students, suddenly handed empty journal books, magically ... Read More

Rating:

- where's patrick demsey?
a good classroom movie all in all and inspirational, of course. But why have Patrick Dempsey (one of my fav actors)in the movie if he's not going to do anything? The movie carts him off after a separation scene at the breakfast table. We are given no explanation whatsoever why swank and dempsey need a separation from their marriage. Instead of involving Dempsey in her project somehow, he's erased from the plot....waste of a good actor in my opinion.

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