Review No.132: Detachment

As I'm constantly banging on about genres on this blog, because after all that's the first thing they teach you about in Film Studies, I'm going to have a look at a very specific type of film mainly that of the inspirational teacher. From Goodbye Mr Chips to Freedom Writers via Stand and Deliver and Dangerous Minds these films always see an educator come to a school, usually one where the students can't be bothered, and ends with a case of mutual respect. That's what I thought I was getting from Detachment in which Adrien Brody plays substitute teacher Henry Barthes who comes to teach a class of delinquents in a school which produces the worst figures in the area. As the title suggests though Henry is detached from most of life so swears freely at his pupils and informs them that if they don't want to be in the class then they shouldn't waste his time. Henry's teaching does touch certain students though most notably Betty Kaye's Meredith a rather large girl with a penchant for art photography who is routinely picked on at school and insulted at home. The scenes inside the school also introduce us to teachers all of whom are struggling at their jobs but cope in different ways from James Caan's Mr Seadbolt's pill-popping to Lucy Liu's guidance councillor lashing out at her go-nowhere students we also see the politics of the education system through the eyes of principal Carol played by Marcia Gay Harden. The story though is more about Henry than the school as we see him deal with a childhood trauma and take in a teenage prostitute for no apparent reason. Things come to a head as Henry is about to leave the school and there is a heart-breaking scene before everything is said and done.

Reading around Detachment I found out that the original script didn't include a lot of the in-character interviews that are carried out between director Tony Kaye and Brody. For me these segments were long-winded and were a way out of letting the script provide depth to the character of Henry in addition there are a lot of improvised scenes some that work and others that are little embarrassing to watch. Personally I felt Kaye, who hasn't made a film since the well-received American History X, tries too many different techniques from animation to dimly lit memories to the aforementioned interviews it all seems a bit much. What I would've liked to have scene is more from the school as it it's heart is a very interesting film about school politics and the pressures of being a teacher, as evidenced right from the get-go with interviews by real life educators, however I felt the multiple plot strands involving Henry's personal life got in the way of this. With the exception of Meredith we really didn't get to see a lot of interaction between Henry and his pupils which is a shame as I thought that more could've been made in these classroom scenes. The cast on the whole are great Brody is great in the role of a man who wants to impart knowledge to kids but has become jaded over time due to both his job and his personal life. Harden, Liu and Caan are all brilliant with the latter playing a role very different from the usual stereotypical gangsters he usually portrays while Christina Hendricks also does a good job as a would-be love interest for Henry. There are flashes of what Detachment could've been however I think Kaye tries too many things that just don't add up to a well-made feature film.

Verdict: Some decent performances and flashes of genius don't detract from the fact that Detachment is a bit all over the place however due to the brilliant cast I will award this 6.5/10