Polisse

The French import "Polisse" isn't quite like any other movie. It's half documentary, half dramatization, based on real-life stories from the Child Protection Unit of the Paris police and cast mostly with professional actors. Some of the stories are more compelling than others, but by the end you definitely feel that you've spent time on the beat, and several scenes are viscerally impactful and full of lifeforce. There's also a unique moment in which the unit, coming down from a series of emotional conflagrations, unwinds at a discotheque to the sounds of Keedz's "Stand on the Word." (The soundtrack's a must-buy on iTunes.) I don't like the way the movie ends - it takes a sharp turn that's out of step with what's come before - but it's well worth seeing.