Freedom Writers tells the true story of teacher Erin Gruwell and her students -- a class of left-behind ghetto kids nobody cared about or believed in -- who, in working together, overcame the negative expectations of a school system that had given up on them. The real students -- who called themselves the Freedom Writers after they started journaling events in their lives -- had their real-life stories from their journals published in a book, and now writer/director Richard LaGravenese and Hilary Swank have brought their tale to the big screen. Cinematical say down recently for a chat with Erin Gruwell, actor Jason Finn, who plays one of the students, and real-life Freedom Writer Maria Reyes, to talk about the film.

When I first heard the plot of Freedom Writers -- inspirational movie about a white teacher bringing hope to poor, black students -- my initial reaction was: Yawn. Haven't we already seen this story, in Dangerous Minds, with Michelle Pfeiffer in the role of the white knight saving the day? So it was with not a little trepidation that I settled down with my popcorn and diet soda for the screening of Freedom Writers. And then ... what do you know? I was actually surprised -- in a good way -- to have my expectations proved wrong.

Welcome to the first weekend of the new year! You know what that means, dontcha? That's riiiiight: Amazingly crappy movies! Yes indeed, what with all the Oscar-type movies cascading into their platform releases and the studios holding all their high cards until Spring (and Summer) -- it's junk-a-thon time at the local multiplexes. Case in point: The very first weekend of movies: Two certifiable dungpiles and one "inspirational drama" that's getting a few kind words, if only by default.

Code Name: The Cleaner (2 positive / 42 negative at RottenTomatoes.com)

Pro: "It's always fun to see Liu beat on some bad guys. Check your disbelief at the door and you'll get just what you expect." -- Michael Ordona, The Los Angeles Times

Con: "Wastes so much energy on parsing out a convoluted plot that its stars' brightest moments are saved for the blooper reel in the closing credits." -- Scott Tobias, The Onion AV Club

Pro: "It is a slight piece of entertainment that does entertainment on a basic level." --Stefan Halley, Pop Syndicate

Con: "The spectacularly implausible plot is dropped on moviegoers in boulder-size chunks during speed-talking monologues." -- David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer

Bonus! "Even with low expectations, however, I was disappointed in this movie." -- Jette Kernion, Cinematical

Freedom Writers (45 positive / 25 negative at RT)

Pro: "A simple, straightforward and surprisingly affecting story of one woman who managed to make a difference." -- Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly

Con: "Sometimes art imitates life. And sometimes life goes to Hollywood and disappears completely." -- Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

Pro: "Delivers the expected messages about hope and the ability to change one's destiny, and does it in a manner that it is emotionally and intellectually satisfying." -- James Berardinelli, ReelViews.net

Con: "Hits all the expected marks, with no cliché left behind." -- Robert Keser, Slant Magazine

Bonus! "Swank's passion and personality suck you into the story right from the start, and knowing that the script is based on real stories makes it meaningful and inspirational." -- Kim Voynar, Cinematical

Happily N'Ever After (3 positive / 50 negative at RT)

Pro: "Characters are painted broadly enough for the vocal cast to have a heap of fun, especially Weaver, who clearly relishes the opportunity to play a heartless diva." -- Tom Keogh, Seattle Times

Con: "Not counting derivative, obnoxious, poorly animated, and woefully unfunny, what Happily is most of all is dull." -- David Cornelius, eFilmCritic.com

Pro: "This most recent po-mo take on fairy tale may be "Shrek"-lite, but it is just cute enough." -- Nell Minow, Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

Con: "Unhappily unsuccessful as either low-budget, time-filling kiddie fare or satire aimed at adults." -- Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

Bonus! "The couple of times I laughed during the film, it was in utter disbelief at one awful line or another." -- Kim Voynar, Cinematical

Next weekend: Alpha Dog, Primeval and Stomp the Yard

It's January, and that means we've entered the dog days of moviegoing. Studios release blockbusters in the summer and Oscar contenders at the end of the year, leaving poor li'l January, February, March and April with a bunch of movies that fit in neither category -- that is, horror flicks and films that, to put it kindly, sort of suck. (OK, that wasn't kind.)

In 2006, for example, the lowest-earning film of the year -- in fact, of all time -- was a thriller called 'Zyzzyx,' which co-starred Katherine Heigl (Izzie on 'Grey's Anatomy') and earned a grand total of ... $30. Yes, $30. I believe that covers the director, his wife and an insomniac who wandered in by mistake, looking for a nap. It opened in February. See my point? Anyway, despite that, there are still some gems to be found before we hit the summer. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

'Freedom Writers': Speaking of 'Grey's Anatomy,' here's a movie that co-stars Patrick Dempsey, known to viewers everywhere as McDreamy. He plays the husband of Hilary Swank's character, a do-gooder teacher who comes to the inner city to do some good. Wait a minute, haven't we seen this movie before? Oh, my mistake. That was 'Dangerous Minds.' And about a million other movies. To its credit, the movie's getting decent reviews, and Hilary's got those two Oscars. I just don't know whether she's a big enough name to headline this type of movie successfully, particularly in such a crowded genre.

'Happily N'Ever After': The only family movie opening this weekend, 'Happily N'Ever After' would seem to have the best chance of knocking 'Night at the Museum' from its No. 1 perch. It's an animated fairy tale -- a comic retelling of 'Cinderella' -- starring real-life married couple Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. as Cinderella and Rick, her dishwasher best friend who's secretly in love with her. The prince, interestingly enough (who isn't necessarily the good guy in this movie), is named Prince Humperdink, presumably in a nod to one of my all-time favorite movies, 'The Princess Bride.' At any rate, kids and parents who've already seen 'Museum' and 'Happy Feet' will probably want to give this a chance, though the fact that this movie is opening in January and not peak holiday time is a little suspect, methinks.

'Children of Men': Already showing in limited release but opening wide now is Alfonso Cuarón's ('Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,' 'Y Tu Mamá También') futuristic thriller, starring Clive Owen and Julianne Moore, about a world in which women can no longer give birth to children. I wasn't able to catch a screening of this one, but I can't wait to see it. It's gotten great reviews and has made plenty of Best of 2006 lists; in addition, my colleague Tommy says it has "the coolest sequence of the year": a 10-minute, uninterrupted tracking shot in which Owen, running through a war zone, ducks in and out of buildings and buses. This is the highest quality film going wide this week -- and as a fan of Cuaron's, I'm rooting for it to do well. It's not the most accessible film, but word of mouth is a powerful thing.

Also of note: Cedric the Entertainer's 'Code Name: The Cleaner' comes out this weekend. Shouldn't make the top five, but who knows, stranger things have happened. Cedric's got his peeps. Also, it co-stars Lucy Liu and Nicollette Sheridan. Um, that's pretty much all I have to say about this one.

Deadline: Saturday at noon. You've got 24 hours. Go.

1. Night at the Museum
2. The Pursuit of Happyness
3. Dreamgirls
4. Happily N'Ever After
5. Children of Men

POST: What's your weekend top five prediction?

POST: What do you think of these movies?

'Children of Men': Showtimes, tix, trailer & more | Photos | Reviews

'Happily N'Ever After': Showtimes, tix, trailer & more | Exclusive clips | Photos

'Freedom Writers': Showtimes, tix, trailer & more | Exclusive clip | Photos

There's an interesting debate going on in the comments on the IMDb page for the upcoming film Freedom Writers about whether Hollywood focuses too much on movies about white teachers changing the lives of poor, minority students. The film tells the true story of Erin Gruwell, a young (white) teacher who, wanting to do something with her life that would make a difference, chose to take her first job teaching Freshman and Sophomore English at Woodrow Wilson High to a group of kids who have been integrated into the formerly "good" -- read: white -- school, much to the resentment of the long-time (middle-aged, white) teachers who have been at Wilson since the good old days, before all those minority kids came in.

The idealistic Gruwell is flummoxed at first around how to deal with her students, who hate her even more than they hate each other, but she finds a way to help the kids find common ground, and to find the potential buried deep within each of them. Gruwell has her students start keeping journals about their lives, which eventually are published into a book called The Freedom Writers.

A reader in the comments thread went off on a diatribe about the film being yet another "great white hope" film about a white schoolteacher saving the day with minority kids; other readers have fired back that this film is based on a true story, that it's inspiring regardless of the color of Erin Gruwell's skin. Other comments have opined that only minority teachers can really understand minority students, or that there are lots of inspirational stories about minority teachers out there that Hollywood doesn't make into films.