A substitute teacher who drifts from classroom to classroom finds a connection to the students and teachers during his latest assignment.
While Brody is likable enough, Kaye seems so intent on shocking the audience that his film teeters into self-parody, a self-important, humourless exposé of modern education that eventually becomes exhausting to watch.
While you can admire the rigour of director Tony Kaye’s (American History X) bleak vision, it’s impossible to take his didactic diatribe as seriously as it takes itself.
Incredible performances from the cast, but Detachment is perhaps just too pretentiously depressing for its own good.
An artfully raw, hysterically pitched polemic decrying the failings in the American public schooling system.
If there was an exam in designer misery, Detachment would score an A.
It's watchable enough, but the bludgeoning screenplay seems undercooked compared to the high-grade actors on show.
Like the system it deplores, it's pretty much a mess, though with a cast this strong you get moments of saving grace.
Overflowing with anger and anguish Detachment is an impressive achievement with a notable supporting cast.
To Sir With Love it most certainly ain’t.
A film every bit as troubled as the characters it portrays.
The big-name supporting cast...seem to have arrived on set for a ludicrously undignified workshop of mid-life-crisis performance art.
The acting is excellent but the movie is the sort of thing that gives pessimism a bad name.
General release. Check local listings for show times.