Young Caucasian Dan Dunne teaches history and coaches the girls basketball team at a Brooklyn high school populated primarily by black and Hispanic students. To the chagrin of his superiors Dan bucks the outlined curriculum of historical facts in favor of the philosophy of historical events generally discussing the concept of dialectics. As such he captures the imagination of his students at least in the classroom. Outside of the classroom Dans life is in shambles. He has a distant but cordial relationship with his family. He uses illicit drugs rampantly. Although his former girlfriend Rachel was able to clean up her drug habit Dan believes that rehab will not work for him. Due to a combination of these issues he treats women poorly. Thirteen year old Drey is a student in his class and a player on his basketball team. Drey has her own problems. Her parents are divorced with her father a virtually nonexistent figure in her life and her EMT mother generally absent as she is ...
Review
The litmus of test of good art is in how it affects you. I saw this film yesterday and still can not stop dissecting and discovering new aspects of the story. There is a truth in this film that can't be put into words. This is the sort of film that needs to be seen by everybody. The frailty of being human is never so more eloquently laid on film than in this movie(and I'm not just talking Ryan Gosling here). The writingdirecting team need to be looked at for academy award nomination. This is some of the best American film has to offer. Casting for this film I can imagine must have been difficult the choices made were nothing short of perfection. Shareeka Epps Ryan Gosling and Anthony Mackie all deserve Academy award nominations. Look at this movie Hollywood this is what film is supposed to be. This movie will stay with me forever.
