Freedom Writers: The Movie

*Photo from daveferguson.typepad.com

Along with the many books that the group has had an involvement with publishing, there is also a major motion picture that was released based on their story. Freedom Writers, brought to the movie screen in 2007 was a portrayal of their book in a major motion picture form. Hilary Swank played Erin Gruwell in the movie, an actor whom I love, but some reviewers had a harsh reaction to. If you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it. Here is a link to the Freedom Writers movie website:

Freedom Writers Movie

The site is a great site full of information about the movie. The movie was released by MTV and grossed $26,605,602 (courtesy of Box Office Mojo) so it was a fairly successful motion picture for it being educationally based.

Rotten Tomatoes by Flixster, a movie critic site had critics that evaluated the movie. Now we need to keep in mind that these are critics that evaluated the movie not fans, but here’s what some of the critics had to say:

“Engaging but clichéd inspirational drama set during the time of the 1992 race riots in Los Angeles. On some level, just about any movie featuring never-say-die teachers is effective” –Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

“Square, sincere, and proud of it.” –Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

“Corny? You bet. And worse when the plot veers into the glitz of a Dangerous Minds and the sappiness of a TV After School Special. But the movie, which Swank helped produce using her clout as a two-time Oscar winner, gets to you” –Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

“Freedom Writers is another exceptional teacher scenario not so different from the norm” –Tom Charity, CNN.com

Now I realize these are from critics and not the fan reaction which I wish I could find, but most of the reviews were not very positive that I found. I feel that now the anger will come out from me being an education major. Maybe, it is that these movies only relate to the teachers and the kids that are their age and living their lives? I don’t know, but the negative reaction from the critics does not make me a very happy person from the fan’s perspective. But, that is why I am a fan. A fan loves the show and doesn’t listen to what a critic says, a fan is a positive representation of the fandom and believes and follow it, no matter what.

*Information taken from Rotten Tomatoes website as well as the Freedom Writers official movie website.