DETENTION A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2
"All you have to do is keep them from killing each other on school grounds," the principal's anal-retentive, pencil-pushing executive assistant, Ms. Nunca (Gail Cronauer), tells the new substitute, Mr. Walmsley (John S. Davies).
In the wonderfully sardonic DETENTION, by writer/director Andy Anderson (POSITIVE I.D.), the bored students know that they can get away with absolutely anything. Their parents' lawyers have the school district living in fear of lawsuits. The fear is genuine since the high school doesn't have any textbooks now. It seems that 2 parents got an injunction after they found some material objectionable in the current books. A judge has ordered the district to lock up all the books, pending his ruling.
This smartly Kafkaesque tale has two distinct parts. The darkly comedic first part is followed by a shockingly dramatic second, each fascinating in its own right, but both better together. The comedy works because the excellent ensemble cast takes it dead seriously, and the drama works better because of the comedic relief. Both are helped by being outlandish yet frequently quite plausible, as any teacher, especially substitute teachers, will tell you.
Mr. Walmsley, a first-time substitute goes to unruly Donner High in which students are free to use profanity towards the teachers, but the other way round will land the teachers in hot water. Besides having to look over detention, he teaches a variety of subjects, although most students don't care about learning anything. While there, he bonds with Louise (Marsha Dietlein), a first-year art teacher, who is harassed by her students.
Louise learns that even physical violence against a teacher gets turned around and blamed on the teacher. And, if the teacher fights it and wins, her contract might not be renewed the following year since she'll be labeled a trouble maker by the administration, which likes to settle all disputes as quickly and quietly as possible by giving the students whatever they ask.
"This is insanity!" Mr. Walmsley, who rarely raises his voice, correctly points out. "The lunatics are running the asylum."
But one mustn't go against the students. "We can't disparage them, we can't fight them, we can't call them out and, unfortunately, we can't kill them," the principal (Lee Ritchey) tells Mr. Walmsley.
Teachers get strict lectures on how to approach students. Both teachers and students have rules, but only the teachers have to follow them. In one scene, we witness a lecture to the teachers about one of the typically asinine rules that they must follow, lest they run afoul of the law. The school's attorneys have determined the recommended number of teacher-to-student eye-contacts -- 8 per student per class since more would constitute sexual harassment and less would be evidence of discrimination.
In the dark second half, seven students (Susana Gibb, Meason Wiley, Jonathan Brent, Rebecca Sanabria, Brandy Little, Kirk Kelley-Kahn and Forest Denbow) find themselves at a summer school of sorts in which tough love, very tough love, is practiced.
The challenging story, which asks thought-provoking and provocative questions, is willing to tackle difficult subjects in surprising ways. The director, who is as engaging and hilarious as his movie and who was at our screening, told us of the reaction of a friend of his who had seen the film: "If you're a kid, it's a horror movie; if you're an adult, it's a fantasy."
DETENTION runs just a little over 2 hours. It has not yet been submitted to the MPAA for a rating. Although it contains full male and female frontal nudity and violence, the director told me that he believes that it will be able to receive an R without cuts since there is no sexuality associated with the nudity. The film would be acceptable for older teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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