“Freedom Writers“??? Have we gone mad? Yes, this cliche-ridden, “Stand and Deliver” wannabee starring 2-time Academy Award Hillary Swank looks like cinematic tripe of the finest order, however whoever curated the hip-hop flavored soundtrack for this thing is not completely clueless (yes, we were surprised too). The disc features some choice picks by Gang Starr, Digable Planets and the Pharcyde.
And Montell Jordan’s “This is How We Do It” might be the funniest unfunny song ever.
(PS. as awful as this thing looks, the director has some very respectable credentials. Richard LaGravenese wrote the “Fisher King” and “The Ref” – completely underrated by the way – , directed a segment in “Paris, Je T’aime” and helped the coke-addled and then deceased Ted Demme finish the very excellent 70’s golden-age film doc “A Decade Under the Influence“)
The score, some of it done by the vile Will.I.Am (from the group Black Eyed Peas; you know the group that insists on looking like retarded day-glo pre-schoolers in all their photos shoots) and some by Mark Isham is surprisingly above reproach.
The disc also includes classics by Tupac (“Keep Ya Head Up”), Naughty By Nature (“Hip-Hop Hooray”) and tracks by Cypress Hill and Talib Kweli. This is about 100x more words than we thought we’d write about this soundtrack.
