Review of Detachment (2011) by Matt S — 05 Mar 2012

Brutal in its honesty, powerful punch in the stomach in its performances most notably from the great Adrien Brody, Detatachment is a rough, dark, depressing but effective and enlightening motion picture that will make you feel anything but be detached from it.

It's like Dangerous Minds meets Freedom Writers but more raw and gritty and all so brave and also has an arthouse vibe but in a good way, it has tons of human emotions spilling out and disturbing and devastating issues that schools all around the world face that it's extremely hard hitting with such impact.

It has a story people can relate to and open the eyes of others and is intouch with todays society even though it's hard to swallow but brave in its delivery. What really surprised me and impressed me was the talented teens of mostly unknowns that performed with such intensity and raw emotion that my eyes were glued to the screen everytime they had their moments and those small moments even dealing with the other teachers at the school by a impressive supporting cast was the most gripping to me.

I can picture this film getting much attention come awards season and if not shame on the voters because like another critic stated this is Adrien Brody's best performance since The Pianist and deserves to be seen, the race is on.

Overall directed with a skillful and artful, intimate eye Detachment is one of the best school base drama ever and the performances were fantastic and probably one of the few films that I will remember this year and will be on my top ten list but definitely not an easy watch but a ballsy one.

Recommended! 7.5 out of 10.