| Director | Ryan Fleck |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama film, social problem film, white savior film |
| Runtime | 106 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $700,000 |
| Box office | $4.9 million |
Dan Dunne is a young middle-school history teacher at a Brooklyn school, with a teaching style that rejects the standard curriculum in favor of an approach based upon dialectics. While he is an engaging teacher in the classroom, in his own time he is shown snorting and freebasing cocaine. Dan becomes upset when his ex-girlfriend, Rachel, turns up unexpectedly at a school basketball game, wanting to see him. A short while later, one of his students, Drey, catches him freebasing in the locker room.
Drey's family consists of her overworked single-mother and her brother, Mike, who is in prison for selling drugs for a neighborhood dealer, Frank. Drey's father is also absent, making her dependent on Dan for rides home from school. Her lack of supervision also makes her a target for Frank, who encourages her to sell drugs for him. As Dan and Drey's friendship develops, Dan perceives Frank to be a bad influence on her and tries to persuade him to stay away from her. Drey tries to get Dan to open up about his drug habit to her, though to no avail.
After a tense conversation with Frank about Drey, Dan becomes intoxicated and visits Isabel, another teacher at the school whom he has dated. Initially seeking affection, he then forces himself on her, and she defends herself and runs from him; Dan leaves after apologizing. The following day, Dan is hostile towards Drey, ignoring her concern for him and telling her they are not friends. Drey instead associates with Frank, and completes her first drug sale for him.
Dan goes to his parents' house for dinner, though he is distant and uninterested in the conversation. Dan's brother's girlfriend, Cindy, catches him freebasing in the garage; the two converse and she tells him a joke which makes him laugh. The same night, Drey is out with Frank, selling drugs. Drey arrives at a motel to make a delivery and finds a room of people using drugs. Dan is there and is revealed to be the buyer. The two do not talk as he hands her the money.
The next day, Dan is absent from school, and the class has a substitute teacher. Drey is affected by his absence, and declines a ride home from Frank once school is finished. She instead visits Dan's motel room, finding him hung-over from the previous night. Dan cleans himself up, before sitting down to drink a glass of water. Drey sits down and joins him. The film ends with Dan telling the same joke he heard from Cindy, but he gets the timing of the joke wrong, ruining it. Drey and Dan both break out in laughter at his failed joke.