After seeing the previews, I didn’t expect “Freedom Writers” to be one of those inspiring, electrifying films.I was right, but one thing does matter: the film is based on a true story, and it’s helping to spread the word about the real Freedom Writers and their work.

      Like so many movies that have gone before it, “Freedom Writers” positions a white teacher in a classroom filled with faces of color. The teacher is earnest and means well; the students have little respect for education or authority.

     Most of the movie revolves around the ensuing conflicts that occur when the factions involved ultimately try to find common ground.

     That process generally involves lots of tears, loud swearing, and classroom mayhem. Here gang warfare, and the fact that most students have had friends killed in turf wars, adds to the chaos. Eventually, the teacher learns just as much as the students, and everyone comes to share in one common cause for the good of humanity.

     Giving up on traditional methods at her school in Long Beach, California, teacher Erin Gruwell (Hillary Swank) inspires students to journal about their problems. Together they find out that they have more similarities than differences. Racial strife and turf wars take a back seat to budding friendships, and the world is a better place.

     So goes the film “Freedom Writers” as it plays on the familiar stereotypes and clichés. Hillary Swank of the perfect body plays beleaguered teacher Erin Gruwell. She’s never quite on the mark. For all the energy she exerts to create a believable version of Gruwell, she fails to pull any complexities from the character.

      Equally as distanced from what might have been an interesting role, Grey’s Anatomy heartthrob Patrick Dempsey falls flat in his depiction of Gruwell’s selfish husband, Scott Casey. Granted, there’s an emotional chasm between Casey and Gruwell, but Dempsey never makes you care.

&     Equally as distanced from what might have been an interesting role, Grey’s Anatomy heartthrob Patrick Dempsey falls flat in his depiction of Gruwell’s selfish husband, Scott Casey. Granted, there’s an emotional chasm between Casey and Gruwell, but Dempsey never makes you care.

     If anything saves the film from being a flop, you can thank the young actors who play the troubled students. The various roles depict students who’ve had a lifetime of trauma. Of particular note is April Lee Hernandez who plays Eva, the student most skeptical of Gruwell’s methods. When the direction calls for a fit of shouting “I hate white people,” Hernandez pulls it from somewhere deep.

     or its shortcomings as a movie, “Freedom Writers” does publicize the real Freedom Writers Foundation (www.freedomwritersfoundation.org). After finding success in her methods and publishing her students’ writings in a book in 1994, Gruwell has gone on to spread the word to teachers all over the country. With a calendar of public appearances that rivals Donald Trump’s, Gruwell’s mission is to train teachers to use her innovative methods to empower their students.

     Hillary Swank owes her one.

Rated PG-13 for violent content, some thematic material and language