Freedom Writers

Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, April Lee Hernandez, Jaclyn Ngan, Mario, Jason Finn.


Inexperienced teacher Erin Gruwell (Swank) yearns to make a difference in the world, and to win the admiration of her gruff father (Glenn).

So she lands a position at Wilson High School, taking charge of the infamous Room 203, where the most under-privileged and under-educated students are sent as a respite from the violence on the streets.

Divisions are evident in the classroom and Erin struggles to control the enmity between Eva (Hernandez) and Cambodian refugee Sindy (Ngan), between homeless Marcus (Finn) and the deeply troubled Andre (Mario), who is dealing with a drug-addled mother and a jailbird brother.


Ignoring the advice of department head Margaret (Staunton), Erin buys her students daily journals in which to pen their private thoughts, inspiring understanding and tolerance where previously there was only division and hatred.


Freedom Writers is the true story of an inspirational teacher and her single-handed crusade for change in the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots, when the city was torn apart by interracial gang warfare.

Working from the book The Freedom Writers Diary, writer-director Richard LaGravenese crafts a familiar and uplifting picture of self-sacrifice and triumph in the face of adversity.


Swank brings gravitas to her role with solid performances from the younger cast members, particularly Hernandez, whose character experiences a life-altering journey of self-discovery inside and out of the classroom.

Dempsey is somewhat wasted in the underwritten role of Erin's husband, who loses the woman he loves to her tireless work.