movie minute

Writers Of The Wars: Well, it wasn't as trite as I thought it would be; in fact, the writing was actually quite good. I'm talking about the movie Freedom Writers (PG-13) starring Hilary Swank and McDreamy, oops, I mean Patrick Dempsey as husband and wife. Directed by Richard LaGravenese (the writer of the screenplay for The Bridges Of Madison County, among others), the film is based on The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell and The Freedom Writers; the kids from Room 203 of Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. Swank plays Gruwell, a young and new teacher full of expectation and ideals for her new freshman charges in the inner city school. It's 1994 just two years after the riots after the Rodney King beating and the school has been forced to integrate students.

The students are the typical hard-luck, tough-knockin', smart-aleck kids who are full of potential and ready for transformation. All they need is a teacher who believes in them. Gruwell turns out to be that teacher. She exposes them to real literature and culture all the while butting heads with her department head played with relish by Imelda Staunton. She really does "evil" well and will soon be seen as the deliciously evil Delores Umbridge in Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix. She was also the abortionist in Vera Drake.

Swank is a very talented actress and she portrays Gruwell with the right amount of toughness and tenderness without ever being over sentimental and the ideas she had to enlighten the kids' minds were very clever and realistic. The storyline with Dempsey, as Gruwell's husband was weak and Dempsey seemed to be doing a variation on his Grey's Anatomy character. This was based on a true story but it's hard to know for sure how much of what is in the movie is actual and how much is just drama. Also it's not clear if Gruwell had other classes beyond the one we see on film. Gruwell went on to teach at one of the Universities in Southern California.

The standout in the film is April L. Hernandez, who plays Eva. Eva is a tough Latino who ends up having to decide whether to send an innocent kid to jail or rat out one of her own. The scene where she enters the classroom after just having read the end of The Diary Of Anne Frank is one of her best.

It's a hopeful movie without too much treacle.

Bags of popcorn (out of 5): 3