I was humbled by this great film and I would urge people to see it for themselves. The story is thus: Brooklyn history teacher/girls’ basketball coach Dan Dunn (Ryan Gosling) spends much of his down time with a crack pipe in his mouth or white powder in his nasal canal. He builds up a relationship with a student named Drey (Shareeka Epps), a reticent tomboy with an incarcerated brother and absent father. The friendship, far from being a student-mentor sapfest a la Finding Forrester, is complicated and awkward, with an odd beauty that comes from the unspoken understanding of two troubled souls living stoically with their demons. There is a narrative arc, but plot points are far less important than the fact that every detail is so unexpectedly close to perfect. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (who co-wrote, with the latter directing) seem preternaturally determined to make movies. This once-jaded critic thanks them.
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