DETACHMENT (Tony Kaye). 97 minutes. Opens Friday (May 4). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NNN
Detachment’s a lot like a car accident: it’s horrifying, but you can’t take your eyes off it.
Adrien Brody plays Henry, a substitute teacher whose profession – moving from classroom to classroom – perfectly suits his personal difficulty making connections.
But women have no problem attaching themselves to him. A colleague (Christina Hendricks, nothing like her Mad Men persona) appreciates his teaching gifts an artistically inclined student falls in love and the teenage street prostitute he shelters (charismatic relative newcomer Sami Gayle) wants more than he thinks he can give.
In the meantime, his students are angry, and the teachers – including Lucy Liu as a guidance counsellor who loses it, William Petersen, Blythe Danner and James Caan, given to superb rants – desperate.
Henry could be a game changer, but a childhood trauma has ground down his sense of self.
A cast like this doesn’t fall out of the blue. The film’s fiercely independent spirit – off-kilter dialogue, disturbing flashbacks, animated commentaries – attracted this kind of talent.
The theme’s a grabber, too. Director Tony Kaye tells the story with almost unbearable intensity in order to make his point that the New York City school system has gone into the crapper.
Detachment will doubtless divide audiences. Some will admire its style. Others will think it’s hopelessly pretentious – Darren Aronofsky lite.
I was riveted, even if the story does give out in the end.
