Detachment

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Detachment

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Detachment

Adrien Brody, Marcia Gay Harden, James Caan, Lucy Liu, Christina Hendricks

In Director Tony Kaye's Detachment, Adrien Brody stars as Henry Barthes, an educator with a true talent to connect with his students. Yet Henry has chosen to bury his gift. By spending his days as a s... read more read more...ubstitute teacher, he conveniently avoids any emotional connections by never staying anywhere long enough to form an attachment to either students or colleagues. When a new assignment places him at a public school where a frustrated, burned-out administration has created an apathetic student body, Henry soon becomes a role model to the disaffected youth. In finding an unlikely emotional connection to the students, teachers, and a runaway teen he takes in from the streets, Henry realizes that he's not alone in his life and death struggle to find beauty in a seemingly vicious and loveless world. -- (C) Tribeca Film

Id: 11161633

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Recent Reviews

Detachment Recent Reviews
  • Saxia
    February 10, 2013
    Saxia
    Adrien Brody doesn't really do it for me. That tormented look, which suited this movie perfectly, gets old after a while. And Lucy Liu? What a bore.. Her outburst in the movie is laughable, she should stick to bad ass Asian bitches. Marcia Gay on the other hand never fails to mak... read moree an impression.

    About the movie? I'm not really sure what the message is here. That life sucks and even the smallest effort to reach out to each other will bite you in the ass? Nice.
  • SirPant
    January 17, 2013
    SirPant
    An over-baked mess of good ideas. If the idea was to make a statement on the American educational system then it should have focused on that instead of all the other distracting sub-plots. It all seemed a bit cliched, like a mix of scenes and characters (and cinematic styles - no... read moren of which Kaye can call his own) from other films. In my opinion Tony Kaye fails to get the message across (again) because he totally lacks focus. I really wanted to like it, there is a good film in there somewhere, it's just confused and contrived beyond recognition. Brody and Caan's performances are the high points and I loved seeing Louis Zorich again.
  • emilkakko
    October 4, 2012
    emilkakko
    Tony Kaye is definetly an interesting director in my books. He has such a visually unique way of telling his stories which make them instantly much more ambitious than many other dramas that are centered on schools or teenagers.
    Detachment is far away from being flawless but it ... read morehas some extremely powerful moments and one of the rawest performances from great Adrien Brody that i've seen so far. Withou Brody's furious acting this film would not be even a half as powerful that it now is. It is no secret that brody's talent is the biggest strenght in here.
    Kaye mixes quite interestingly animation with more experimental scenes where actors address straight to camera. All the visual gimmickry does still wear out too soon and feels pointless in the end, but it also give this film it's much needed roughness and raw quality.
    Detachment is interesting experimental film where some ideas work and some fail miserably. But i do admire Kaye's ambition and his style of telling his story. This is interesting if dramatically uneven little film which deserves to be seen once at least.
  • allan913
    September 11, 2012
    allan913
    An intense, in-depth, heart-wrenching, and chracter driven piece into the world of teachers who have almost literally given up trying to make a difference and the students who affect them and who they also effect. Director, Tony Kaye crafts a superb, dark, realitic and altogether... read more brilliant movie that hits you hard, shakes you, moves you and holds you spellbound from start to its thrilling finish. An incrediable and truly unforgettable movie. An explosive and tour de force experiance. A fully-realized, compelling and magnificent movie that delves deep into its story and it`s characters. It has such an amazing all-star cast that all deliver brilliant performances, there is not a bad performance in this film and they all have impact no matter how small the part. Adrian Brody gives a powerhouse performance, it`s possiably his best work since The Pianst. Brody is electrifying. James Caan is brilliant. Lucy Liu is powerful. Marcia Gay Harden is riveting.
  • xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    July 5, 2012
    xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    A Glimpse into the Reality of Life

    Great Film! Adrien Brody projects the right emotions at the right time in the movie. Sadness, happiness, joy and trauma, every feeling has its place in this movie. The use of real students and an existing school in combination with great filmin... read moreg gives the viewer the feeling its all real. A quality that makes a movie great.The beauty of this movie comes within the subtext, whether you can directly relate with the characters or not, the movie takes the message and widens its range so everyone is able to understand the actual meaning of the film. Let's clear things out, this film is not about a school or the basis of education, this is about trying our best not to give a damn about others as most of us just go around doing everything in our power to be happy ourselves with a lousy job, a loveless marriage, a constant sense of abandonment or basically a crappy life. Its pretty tough stuff seeing kids void of hope, interest or enthusiasm and teachers trying to get to the few who are still to be reached in the classroom. But its here where it all falls apart because of hollow politics, parents that do not care or are just as dysfunctional as the kids they raised and dropped into the public education system and idiotic social rules and conventions we are all used to. When you see the pattern in all the peoples private lives and their desperate tries of holding on its obvious that "Detachment" is not just about the public school system but about our whole society, about each and every one of us.

    The movie inspired me. I'm a elementary school teacher and I see a lot of kids, sometimes heading in the wrong direction. It gave me a feeling of hope and drive to help these children, even if it seems hopeless. Go see it!


    Detachment is a chronicle of three weeks in the lives of several high school teachers, administrators and students through the eyes of a substitute teacher named Henry Barthes. Henry roams from school to school, imparting modes of knowledge, but never staying long enough to form any semblance of sentient attachment. A perfect profession for one seeking to hide out in the open. One day Henry arrives at his next assignment. Upon his entry into this particular school, a secret world of emotion is awakened within him by three women. A girl named Meredith in his first period. A fellow teacher Ms. Madison, and a street hooker named Erica, whom Henry has personally granted brief shelter from the streets. Each one of these women, like Henry, are in a life and death struggle to find beauty in a seemingly vicious and loveless world.
  • fb100001048934982
    March 19, 2012
    fb100001048934982
    Tony Kaye's 'Detachment' may not offer any answers to its cry for help, but its intriguing filmmaking that grips you from the beginning and ceases to let go. Adrien Brody's powerful performance is taut and sometimes explosive, and he proves to be more than a great anchor for the ... read morestory's tone and message. Kaye does a good job of gifting the audience with a sense of pathos for his film's characters, especially Brody. The material is not always easy to swallow, but Kaye and Brody have made a film that has something to say, and that message seems very important.
  • blacksheepboy
    March 6, 2012
    blacksheepboy
    What could have been an honest drama feels more like an overly extreme view on the American educational system. Kaye also insists on an over-stylish direction that seems incompatible with the intended realistic approach. Besides, the story becomes a melodrama in the final act.
  • PedroPauloA
    March 5, 2012
    PedroPauloA
    Detachment

    This movie serves to remind all of us that good indie movies still exist

    Detachment, is one of the best movies I have seen this year. Its complexity, and entirety remains truthful to the indie genre. It's experimental style, and depressing tone a... read morere not only touching but intriguing.

    Henry Barthes (Brody) is a substitute teacher that drifts from classroom to classroom facing the problems of the children, and the problems of the teachers, when his own world is full of problems.

    This is one of the most depressing films I have ever seen. However, it is done beautifuly through the eyes of Tony Kaye, just like American History X. His unique filmmaking style of experimenting with cameras and characters are truly remarkable.

    Detachment is a movie that has much to offer: a perplexing story, a unique and original indie film, and wonderful performances.

    In his unique style, Kaye uses this film to show the troubles and difficulties of our lifes, and the lifes of teachers and students, and how we are so detached from one another. He serves his purpose by using a experimental form of filmmaking where he uses a super 8 type of retro camera, a sketchy editing style, that reminds us how puzzling our lives are, and finally the decadency in the characters.

    This is a very pessimistic film, it is sad from beggining to start, and it is not here to make you feel good, it is a movie that serves the purpose to remind us that our society is killing and education is killing us by preventing us to be have compasion for one another.

    The acting in this movie is great. Brody shows us why he won an oscar in this movie. This to me is his most powerful performance, more than his great debut in The Pianist.

    Personally I have much to say about this film, but can't put it in words. I am fanatic for both educational films, and indie films, hence I love this movie very much. Although it is highly depressing this movie leads us into great and deep thinking, and movies are supposed to do that, not only entertain. This movie is brilliant for its experimental style, of a fictional documentary.

    Henry Barthes: "A faceless man in a classroom, is that how you see me?"
  • moviewaffle
    July 17, 2012
    moviewaffle
    As someone in possession of a larger than average nose, I've always felt a kinship with Brody yet never been fully convinced by him as an actor. With his quietly brilliant turn here as a man whose existential crisis keeps being interrupted by reality he's finally convinced me. Th... read moreis could be the best leading male performance of the year. His constant hang dog looks make him ideally cast for this part. When he tells a confrontational student his words can't hurt him because he feels no emotions we fully believe him.
    The story of a substitute teacher being sent to a school whose pupils have been written off has been done to death by now. We've seen the inspirational teacher plotline of "Dangerous Minds" and "To Sir, With Love" and the teacher versus students scenario of "Blackboard Jungle" and "187". Kaye gives us a fresh take, his students are unruly and threatening but Brody is indifferent to them. It's this indifference that ultimately leads him to bond with his pupils as like him, they are struggling to connect with the world around them.
    Despite his outwardly cold facade, Brody is racked by a sense of responsibility to others. He visits his grandfather in hospital every day despite implications that the man's abuse lead to the suicide of Brody's mother. The same impulse leads to him taking a teenage prostitute into his care, brilliantly played by Judy Garland lookalike Gayle. Finally encountering someone who seems to genuinely care for her, she falls for him but it's a bond Brody is uncomfortable sharing. Also futilely seeking his affection is Betty Kaye (daughter of the director?), an overweight and emotionally vulnerable student who finds kinship with Brody's sad expression. These two storylines will break the heart of the most thick skinned of viewers.
    The film is by no means perfect and would benefit from a much subtler approach than Kaye seems capable of but it's certainly affecting. At times acutely depressing, pretentious and anger-inducing, it eventually becomes an uplifting tale with a message that we may not always want people in our lives but ultimately we need them.
  • fb573220345
    May 9, 2012
    fb573220345
    Powerful, Depressing, Artistically Brilliant with a powerful message that is important today and should be taken seriously. While the movie maybe slow for some viewers, you have to pay attention to the poetic messages and atmospheric production to enjoy it. This movie is a strong... read more statement delivered through art, and must be viewed!!
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