Detachment Reviews

Back in 1998, Tony Kaye made 'American History X' which turned out to be one of the most acclaimed directing debuts ever made. Well, even though it could have been the start of a promising career, at the time, Kaye made a big fuss about how much he actually hated his own movie and, as a result, he pretty much blacklisted himself. Eventually, it took him some time to get his act back together and, almost 20 years later after the release of its masterpiece, I finally watched another directing effort from this guy. Well, even though it was maybe nothing really groundbreaking, I thought it was a solid drama and probably the most depressing depiction of the life of an average teacher I have ever seen. It was also terribly realistic, I'm afraid. It's too bad that everything happening outside the school didn't work so well. Especially the sub-plot about the main character giving shelter to a young prostitute was rather misguided. Indeed, not only the guy was an amazing substitute but he apparently also had a heart of gold but I think it would have been more interesting if they only focused on his school work like they did in 'Entre les murs' which remains by far the best movie about this subject. This movie was also a good reminder that Adrien Brody was once one of the most promising actors of his generation. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was pretty good and it is definitely worth a look.

It was a bit heavy for me, but it made me think about life... I'm still thinking. This movie will stay with me for a while. Adrien Brody is an excellent actor.

Almost perfect, a little bit predictable, but Adrien Brody is amazing in his role and I really enjoyed this movie.

Think of the most depressing movie that you've ever seen, and multiply the grim factor times a million. I guarantee you, the result would STILL look like "The Mickey Mouse Club" in comparison to 'Detachment'.

I'm generally not opposed to sad movies; in fact, I've enjoyed and appreciated many films that some might even label "depressing." However, I prefer sad movies with at least a GLIMMER of hope, or a touch of humor -- or SOMETHING besides just nonstop despair, scene after scene. There's very little hope or humor to balance the bleakness that permeates 'Detachment'.

Of course, the title alone hints that this isn't the most cheerful of movies; Adrien Brody's sad face on the poster is kind of a giveaway, as well. And I understand that the film's bleakness is intentional (and sort of the point).

However, the dark tone isn't the only reason that I didn't care much for
'Detachment'. While Brody's "documentary" style narration didn't bother me too much, I wasn't crazy about all of the "animated" scenes sprinkled throughout the film; one or two animated scenes might have been okay, but there are WAY too many of them, and they come across as rather amateur-ish. I was honestly surprised to read up on the movie and see that it was made by an acclaimed director (Tony Kaye) and not a recent film school graduate.

I also found it difficult to care much about the supporting characters. I suppose "Meredith" (the lonely high school student who develops an attraction to Mr. Barthes) kind of intrigued me, but I LOATHED what happened to her and how that scenario played out! "Erica" (the runaway who moves in with Henry) turned out to be less annoying than I expected, though I'm not sure that her character was necessary (and a couple of her scenes are a bit... dramatic).

As for Henry's teacher colleagues, I wasn't really invested in them, either, except for perhaps the teacher who felt invisible (played by Tim Blake Nelson; his character "Mr. Wiatt" could have used a bit more development, though, if the movie was going to bother showing him at all). Lucy Liu's "big scene" didn't strike me as believable, and Blythe Danner is just plain thankless.

(Though I will say that Danner and Marcia Gay Harden very much "look" their parts; Harden especially looks the role of the stern administrator who'd begin lectures with "You NEED to...")

If not for Adrien Brody's performance, I might have REALLY disliked this movie... or maybe even hated it. But Brody is excellent in his role as substitute teacher Henry Barthes; he makes the character sympathetic, yet realistic, and he's very believable and engaging in the role. Because he's so good in this, I actually WANTED to like 'Detachment' better than I did.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for me to recommend 'Detachment' -- but at least Brody's performance is something of a saving grace. (3/10)