A substitute teacher fills in at a New York high school while at home he regularly hires a prostitute.

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Henry Barthes teacher fills in at a New York high school for one of his colleagues. Quickly confronted with physical violence from some of his students, verbal violence from their parents and the hopelessness of his burned-out, disillusioned co-workers, Henry gives the impression of a solid teacher who can master any professional situation. Henry's strong sense of duty continues into his private life, where he regularly visits his senile grandfather and takes in a prostitute...

Independent production from the maker of American History X about both violence in schools and the existential doubts of an entire generation, constructed using different effects: documentary-style interviews, animated intermissions, a fragmented story, flashbacks in Super-8... Detachment distances itself from the hundreds of other movies about school, thanks or due to its nihilistic point of view: the screwed up teachers (James Caan and Lucy Liu give especially exceptional performances) are even more lost than their disaffected pupils. Sure to discourage anyone thinking of going into teaching.