Detachment is a strangely affecting film. It isn't a happy film far from it in fact it would be wholly depressing if it wasn't for one spark of hope in Adrien Brody's character.
He plays a supply teacher, Henry, who is asked to cover English at a failing school where the kids spit and swear at the teachers and the teachers are either ambivalent or on the verge of nervous breakdowns. Brody's passive but firm approach to discipline means he connects with the kids but this isn't about a hero teacher who turns around a failing school this is about the loneliness of being human in a modern socially and morally decaying society.
Outside of school his father is in a home and has Alzheimers and often thinks he is younger than he is. Through his delusions you learn of a tragic event in Henry's past. Returning home from visiting late one night he is hassled by a young teenage prostitute and eventually takes her in to try and get her off the streets. Told you it wasn't cheerful.
It starts with a Camus quote about feeling your place in the world while feeling utterly detached and I suppose goes in to explain what that means as it embodies Henry.
Brody does that mournful damaged look so well but his quiet and unassuming kindness despite the growing pile of tragedy in his life and his lack of connection is the spark of hope in this dark film and for that I enjoyed it, well enjoy is the wrong word, appreciated is probably a better one.
I'm going to give Detachment 75%. On IMDb it has 77% with a Metacritic score of 52% while on Rotten Tomatoes the critics gave it 57% while 77% of visitors have given it 3.5 stars or higher.
Trailer is a bit too full of dramatic music to really get a sense of the tone of this film:
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