Detachment

When substitute teacher Henry Barthes (Brody) walks into a classroom of troubled teens, we are primed to expect a story of education and redemption, but that's not the game Tony Kaye is playing with Detachment. His film is a portrait of a fundamentally broken education system, and there are no quick fixes. Making his first narrative feature since American History X, Kaye pours everything he's got into Detachment, using all manner of directorial tricks to get his provocative ideas across.

With its overheated approach, the film risks absurdity at numerous turns, but the sheer force of Kaye's direction and the efforts of his incredible cast (Brody hasn't been this good in years; Gayle shines as a teen prostitute) makes the film an exhilarating and emotionally shattering experience. Detachment is a film about how a whole generation of American kids is being failed by their teachers, their parents and themselves, and while you may question Kaye's stylistic choices or shock tactics, you can't question the sincerity of his message. [Philip Concannon]