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Freedom Writers turns out to be a rather unlikely winner among the January throwaways. Starring Hilary Swank in the role of Erin Gruwell, a real-life teacher whose classroom is made up of minority students, the film has what Manohla Dargis in the New York Times describes as "a strong emotional tug and smartly laid foundation." Eleanor Ringel Gillespie in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution remarks that "it infuses new energy into a timeworn formula." Several critics have high praise for Swank's performance. Swank, writes Michael Sragow in the Baltimore Sun, "has the gift of emotional transparency. No one's better at playing characters who arrive onscreen nearly blank and get shaped by experiences that unfold before our eyes." And Kevin Crust in the Los Angeles Times comments: "There is a raw, guileless quality to Swank that shreds any hint of condescension or exploitation." "Hilary Swank gives a powerhouse performance," writes Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune. But several critics aren't buying any of that. Bruce Westbrook in the Houston Chronicle writes: "Swank's film feels less like a strange truth than Hollywood fiction. That's not because we can't buy a California English teacher broadening her students' worldview from gang warfare to a grasp of history and the grace of humanity. It's because this film fails to earn what Gruwell earned in real life: credibility."

Excellent.It gives you hope for inner city kids and determined teachers.