It's 1994 L.A. Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) is a rookie wide-eyed idealistic English teacher in Woodrow Wilson high school. It's two years after the riots. The school was academically excellent until it voluntarily integrated. She is given the at-risk kids who segregate themselves into racial cliques. Her father Steve Gruwell (Scott Glenn) is disappointed in her wasting her effort. Her husband Scott Casey (Patrick Dempsey) slowly stops being supportive. Administrator Margaret Campbell (Imelda Staunton) refuses to give her proper books. Erin gives the kids diaries to write in. The movie also follows the narrator student Eva Benitez who witnesses her boyfriend's drive-by shooting of her classmate and must testify.
It follows the very familiar formula of the white savior teacher and the rough students in need of her help. Hilary Swank is excellent and pulls off this standard melodrama. She really needs help from the students but the young actors don't stand out. They are fine for the purpose of this movie but not much more. Their stories are sincere. I can't oppose its sincerity but it does wear thin when it hits the nail over the head so directly and so often. The heart is in the right place but the formula is unchanged.
It follows the very familiar formula of the white savior teacher and the rough students in need of her help. Hilary Swank is excellent and pulls off this standard melodrama. She really needs help from the students but the young actors don't stand out. They are fine for the purpose of this movie but not much more. Their stories are sincere. I can't oppose its sincerity but it does wear thin when it hits the nail over the head so directly and so often. The heart is in the right place but the formula is unchanged.