Detachment | Rotten Tomatoes (original) (raw)

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Critics Consensus

Detachment's heart is in the right place, but overall it doesn't offer any solutions to its passionate ranting.

Candice Frederick Reel Talk Online A gripping drama, Detachment offers a gut-wrenching look at the school system, as told by the unsung heroes--the teachers. Rated: A Sep 8, 2017 Full Review Donald Clarke Irish Times Detachment has such original energy and is so infused with righteous anger that it proves hard to dismiss. Rated: 3/5 Jul 15, 2012 Full Review Tim Robey Daily Telegraph (UK) Grappling with the dilapidation of America's school system is fair enough, but the movie is painfully undone by its pretentious poetry of despair. Rated: 1/5 Jul 13, 2012 Full Review Sonia Zadurian CineVue Detachment clearly has high aspirations, but unfortunately its jumbled narration means that it falls just shy of the mark. Rated: 3/5 Jan 26, 2019 Full Review PJ Nabarro Patrick Nabarro Tony Kaye's ragged, expressionistic aesthetic may have its detractors but it intuitively suits the wrought scenario of Detachment. Rated: 3/5 Jan 8, 2019 Full Review Neely Swanson Easy Reader (California) This is imitation Polanski, and not a good imitation at that. Sep 18, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

robert r As a teacher, I must say that it offered no hope. This is what I call a "What-The-Point-of-Living" film. There is no happiness, there is no humor. By the end of the film, you want to commit suicide because if this the world, then it is miserable and really what's the point? As a teacher, I have always managed to see a glimmer of hope somewhere, and I have taught in South Central L.A. The way a student smiles or listen to you. Even ways that they try to get you off subject, by asking you about your past. And sometimes, I break down and tell them what it was like when I was a kid, because sometimes they really want to know. But here, there is no retribution, even when he reunites with the homeless girl he takes in and then turns over to the county, one has to wonder is he doing so only to let her know that she is HIV positive, from the highly suspicious call from her test at the end. So, if you want to be depressed and feel really hopeless, this is the film for you. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 08/04/24 Full Review lionel n narration atypique, découpage et flash back ténébreux pour en ajouter à la dramatique , angle et prises de vues de diverses façons ...... les images accentuent l'univers dramatique , j'ai adoré tout cet univers .... j'attendais à la fin des résultats médicaux..... là aussi ..... surprise ! on apprends peu de chacun et pourtant ..... Trés beau film ! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/29/24 Full Review Les N A very good view of teenagers. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/12/24 Full Review Me D After the movie, you must detach yourself from the gripping and masterful story of Detachment. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/10/24 Full Review John O Spoilers: How do you cope with life when your Dad is long gone, you find your mother dead of suicide when you're 7 and your Grandpa has to raise you? I suppose you do the best you can, smart enough to become a teacher, concerned enough to know and want excellence, gentle enough to want your students to do well, but wary enough to have a hit-and-run job, substitute teacher, here and gone, no time to make serious attachments, able to be, well, detached, as Adrien tries to be. There are relentless slices of harmed but surviving life of the other teachers and the principal, the wonderful Marcia who is about to be fired. A procession of great actors, Tim, the burnout. Caan the cynic and satirizer of the futility of being a public school teacher (I saved another student). Lucy the try guy. Christina the seeker of love. Blythe the optimist. Bryan who hits Marcia right where it hurts. William still trying for order amid the chaos. Sami the errant waif teen prostitute, whom Adrien works to save yet wants to move away from. The sick suicidal teen, Betty, who falls for Adrien because he "sees her." This is like a Picasso, an eye on the foot, an ear on the elbow, a succession of moments of trying, failing and surviving. The end is hopeful when Adrien finally says screw it, I will be attached and he visits Sami in the foster kid operation and they end up with purity in each other's arms. I think many believe this is a public school or overall societal critique. But it is just a window into how damaged people cope, in a difficult world, and how doing things well for self and others can lead to new directions. Stuck in the muck doesn't mean no way out. Aren't we all there? Bravo. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/07/24 Full Review bao s No ,.............. .... Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/24 Full Review Read all reviews

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Synopsis Henry Barthes (Adrien Brody) is a substitute teacher who shuns emotional connections, and never stays long enough in one district to bond with his students or colleagues. Troubled and lost, Henry lands at a public school where an apathetic student body and disinterested parents have created a frustrated, burned-out group of teachers and administrators. Inadvertently, Henry becomes a role model to his disaffected students and bonds with a teenage runaway who is just as lost as he is.

Director

Tony Kaye

Producer

Austin Stark, Benji Kohn, Chris Papavasiliou, Bingo Gubelmann, Greg Shapiro, Carl Lund

Screenwriter

Carl Lund

Distributor

Tribeca Film

Production Co

Paper Street Films

Genre

Drama

Original Language

English

Release Date (Theaters)

Mar 16, 2012, Limited

Release Date (Streaming)

May 16, 2012

Box Office (Gross USA)

$71.2K

Runtime

1h 37m