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A substitute teacher (Adrien Brody) shows up at an inner-city public school, finding a rundown hellhole with a hopeless staff incapable of motivating their apathetic pupils.

Depressing, and relentlessly dour, Detachment makes Half Nelson look like Animal House . Brody and his impressive co-stars (including James Caan, Christina Hendricks, Lucy Liu and Bryan Cranston) ensure a consistent level of watchability.

But while you can admire the rigour of director Tony Kaye’s ( American History X ) bleak vision, it’s impossible to take his didactic diatribe as seriously as it takes itself.