FREEDOM WRITERS — ** 1/2 — Hilary Swank, April L. Hernandez, Patrick Dempsey; rated PG-13 (violence, profanity, racial epithets, brief gore, vulgarity, brief sex).

Even earnestness and good intentions can't save "Freedom Writers" from feeling overly familiar. We've already seen this story many times in various forms.

This drama recalls 1995's "Dangerous Minds," and many other films going all the way back to 1955's "Blackboard Jungle," the granddaddy of white-teacher-instructing-troubled-inner-city-kids movies.

Still, this fact-based drama does have a good premise and a good cast. Hilary Swank stars as Erin Gruwell, an idealistic first-year English teacher at a racially mixed Southern California high school. Needless to say, her students practically eat her alive on her first day. But Erin's not about to give up.

In fact, she's got big plans for teaching them tolerance, and about getting them to tackle other, more scholarly endeavors. But she faces considerable opposition from uncaring school administrators — and even family members, who question her motives.

Most of all, however, she must overcome the distrust the students have for their well-dressed teacher.

"Freedom Writers" is at its best when it's dealing with the students rather than focusing on Swank's character. A soap-opera subplot about Erin's marital strife with her husband (Patrick Dempsey) is clumsy and really drags things to a halt.

Screenwriter/director Richard LaGravenese could have excised most or all of these elements and tightened things up.

Among the better aspects is having the students study the Holocaust (they read "The Diary of Anne Frank"), which works very well and is surprisingly moving.

Swank is well-cast as Gruwell, and so are fresh-faced April L. Hernandez, Mario, Jason Finn and Deance Wyatt, who play some of her students.

"Freedom Writers" is rated PG-13 for some strong violence (including shootings and some disturbing imagery), strong profanity (including one usage of the so-called "R-rated" curse word), use of crude slang and racial epithets, brief gore, and some brief sexual contact. Running time: 123 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com