If this film wasn't based on a true story it would seem like a retread of To Sir With Love, Dangerous Minds and even Take The Lead. It's well-made and watchable but far too predictable and formulaic.
A 23 year old rookie teacher called Erin Gruwell (Hillary Swank) arrives to teach tough kids in an integrated school in Long Beach in the 1990s. The kids are mostly gang members and they are angry and cynical for a reason. Their whole life is a struggle to survive. Not surprisingly the kids have poor reading scores but when Gruwell arrives she decides to teach them Homer and Shakespeare. Gruwell's students are initially rude and hostile. She takes them on trips outside the neighborhood, to show them how other people live and slowly wins their trust. They develop an interest in learning and become enthusiastic about schoolwork, but there are setbacks. The kids have never heard of the holocaust, but they enjoy the Diary of Anne Frank and learn that racism can have evil consequences.
Erin has lots of opposition. Her husband (Patrick Dempsey) finds himself neglected, her father (Scott Glenn)worries about the thugs she's mixing with and her boss (Imelda Staunton) and colleagues don't understand why she is wasting her time on these violent losers. Gruwell's students all look closer to 30 than 18 and Swank is 10 years too old to play Gruwel. The film would have worked better with a teacher who looked young and vulnerable. The film ends happily, Erin is a remarkable success and her kids all love her.
A 23 year old rookie teacher called Erin Gruwell (Hillary Swank) arrives to teach tough kids in an integrated school in Long Beach in the 1990s. The kids are mostly gang members and they are angry and cynical for a reason. Their whole life is a struggle to survive. Not surprisingly the kids have poor reading scores but when Gruwell arrives she decides to teach them Homer and Shakespeare. Gruwell's students are initially rude and hostile. She takes them on trips outside the neighborhood, to show them how other people live and slowly wins their trust. They develop an interest in learning and become enthusiastic about schoolwork, but there are setbacks. The kids have never heard of the holocaust, but they enjoy the Diary of Anne Frank and learn that racism can have evil consequences.
Erin has lots of opposition. Her husband (Patrick Dempsey) finds himself neglected, her father (Scott Glenn)worries about the thugs she's mixing with and her boss (Imelda Staunton) and colleagues don't understand why she is wasting her time on these violent losers. Gruwell's students all look closer to 30 than 18 and Swank is 10 years too old to play Gruwel. The film would have worked better with a teacher who looked young and vulnerable. The film ends happily, Erin is a remarkable success and her kids all love her.