Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is a young inner-city junior high school teacher whose ideals wither and die in the face of reality. Day after day in his shabby Brooklyn classroom, he somehow finds the energy to inspire his 13 and 14-year-olds to examine everything from civil rights to the Civil War with a new enthusiasm.

‘The screenplay has a pace and punch that rank it among the very best’ – The Independent

‘This really is a special film, rich with heart and laced with melancholy’ – Sunday Times