Highly Overrated But Still Good

As Good As It Gets

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

I have watched this movie more than 10 times so far since its first release and I enjoy it every time I watch it. This is not a movie to watch if you are looking for something to lift your mood. On the contrary, it's a very depressing movie but its message is clear: proper education and helping the others without asking for much in return is the only way to make sure we are going to have a good future.The story is about a substitute teacher who ends up at a school with difficult students (similar to Dangerous Minds) but he connects with the students by showing them that he is broken and helpless just like that. There is also another plot line with a young prostitute and how their relationship develops and begin to trust each other.I highly recommend this movie but keep in mind that it is not a happy film. Definitely 10/10.

Henry (Adrien Brody), a substitute teacher, is a fragile, broken, complex man who, according to Director Tony Kaye, "lives in his mind and doesn't want to come out of it." Henry encounters a runaway girl who lives on the street and a troubled teen in school who - during his one month stint teaching at a high school - try to pull him out of his contained life. The problem with Detachment is in the storytelling and the flashbacks. They are too convoluted. Most egregious is how the runaway, the high school kids, and their parents are portrayed - in an over-the-top stereotypical way. It is too bad Detachment's execution is not on par with the superb acting of Adrien Brody, James Caan's, Christina Hendricks, and the rest of the talented actors and actresses involved. If the writer had taken the time to rid the story of some of the unnecessary issues and characters, and the stereotypes, perhaps Detachment would have resonated with more viewers and film festivals.

this is one of the best movies i've seen in the last couple of years. great cast of course. but what i genuinely love about it is the raw approach to life. to be a teacher. to the fact that parents aren't real parents anymore. teachers are meant to be lifesavers, geniuses, miracle workers.at one point adrian states that parents should be tested if they're fit to become parents. reminds me of a fascist regime. but de facto he's right.to cut to the chase: it's really a movie about the depressing truth in nowadays society. but i'm given a choice here. do i resign? or do i fight for the ones who deserve the chance to be fought for. i choose the latter.

I became curious about this film because I read where this film was Same Gayle's feature debut. I didn't know anything about this person other than her role on Blue Blood and that show limits her acting strength after seeing Detachment. Here was a film that Tony Kaye directed with an understatement that disguises the powerful argument for sterilization. The students have dissolved into disrespectful future parole violators and the parents, some of them, are the source of these problem children. And trying to ride that ship in turbulent waters in the Adrian Brody character. His attempts to settle those waters is a force of nature one man cannot do alone. But I don't know if he calms those waters following a tragedy or if all hell hits the place and that was a dream? I don't know how old Sami Gayle was when this role was filmed but her corrupt innocence is washed over as an abused prostitute. Her first time encounter with the Adrian Brody character isn't Pretty Woman, a film I hated for it's depiction of the happily ever after prostitute. Sami Gayle's prostitute had more realism to it. The only misgivings I had was that the audience never got to know the results from her medical test. Perhaps it was edited out for time. And the teachers were excellent. I saw where Adrian Brody was the producer for this project. He pulled some top notched actors that made this work. James Caan , Lucy Lui, Marsha Gay Harden, Christine Hendricks, the other guy who held on to the chain link fence, all were good. And while watching this, you had the feeling that some student might go off on the deep end and that was predictable and not unexpected but it was done with the right tempo and uniqueness, no gun play.And I saw where it didn't do well at the box office. Well, with video on demand, I hope this avenue will work out for them so that more eyes can watch this exceptionally independent film.