233 reviews
Ryan Gosling made happen what happens only once every so often. Made me look at what I seen before under a new magnifying light. He took me with him and showed me, with the most astonishing clarity, the complexity of a talented man dragged down by a legacy of good intentions and addiction. We're permitted to visit his family once and we understand what he's fighting with without any weapons. He doesn't blame anyone but he's the result of his own DNA and he knows it. His bright moments, the explanation of what History is for instance, is a glimpse into the man he could actually be, fully. The humanity that Ryan Gosling lends to his character on his darker moments it's as chillingly real as it is moving. The chemistry he establishes with the wonderful Shareeka Epps is as powerful as the one he established with me. I want to meet him, I want to meet Dan and while I was thinking that I realize I know him already. He lives next door to me, he's related to me, I was his friend. This is what superb performances do. They re-awake you.
- littlemartinarocena
- Jan 1, 2008
- Permalink
"Ryan Gosling stars as Dan Dunne, a young teacher whose edgy yet brilliant approach to history inspires his inner-city students to think for themselves. But, outside the classroom, Dan's life is spiraling out of control. Wrestling with inner demons and nursing a serious drug habit, Dan finally hits rock bottom - witnessed by one of his troubled students, Drey (Shareeka Epps). With an unlikely friendship built on a shared secret, Dan tries to steer her away from a small-time drug dealer (Anthony Mackie). But no matter which way they turn to survive, their lives will change forever," according to the film's official synopsis.
"Half Nelson" suffers from too much of the wobbly "hand held" camera technique which, frankly, isn't necessary to make the film look more realistic. Yet, the story, by director Ryan Fleck and partner Anna Boden, and characterizations are good enough to overcome this distraction. The marvelously written screenplay is full of nuances, which serve the main point - showing the interconnecting ways drug addiction can infect the human spirit, when people like those played by Mr. Gosling and Ms. Epps are needed to play much more positive roles in a troubled world.
Gosling's "Academy Award" nomination for "Best Actor" is clearly understandable; and, Epps could have easily won some "Best Supporting Actress" consideration. At least, the "Independent Spirit Awards" recognized the memorable pair's delicately played teacher/student roles. Everyone else in the cast is excellent, as well. And, the non-melodramatic ending leaves "Half Nelson" full of hope.
******* Half Nelson (3/22/06) Ryan Fleck ~ Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie, Monique Gabriela Curnen
"Half Nelson" suffers from too much of the wobbly "hand held" camera technique which, frankly, isn't necessary to make the film look more realistic. Yet, the story, by director Ryan Fleck and partner Anna Boden, and characterizations are good enough to overcome this distraction. The marvelously written screenplay is full of nuances, which serve the main point - showing the interconnecting ways drug addiction can infect the human spirit, when people like those played by Mr. Gosling and Ms. Epps are needed to play much more positive roles in a troubled world.
Gosling's "Academy Award" nomination for "Best Actor" is clearly understandable; and, Epps could have easily won some "Best Supporting Actress" consideration. At least, the "Independent Spirit Awards" recognized the memorable pair's delicately played teacher/student roles. Everyone else in the cast is excellent, as well. And, the non-melodramatic ending leaves "Half Nelson" full of hope.
******* Half Nelson (3/22/06) Ryan Fleck ~ Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie, Monique Gabriela Curnen
- wes-connors
- Jun 6, 2009
- Permalink
Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps were just plain awesome in this film by Ryan Fleck.
Gosling was impressive as an addict that was trying to hold on and teach. You could see the constant struggle as he fought giving up. The back and forth with Epps was quietly enchanting. Both certainly showed great acting talent in this film.
No loud action and prurient subject matter, just a sweet film showing a man's struggle and a girl's growing up realizing that drugs cripple. This film is hard to reduce to simple formulas. It transcends any mold and entertains in a reflective manner.
Gosling was impressive as an addict that was trying to hold on and teach. You could see the constant struggle as he fought giving up. The back and forth with Epps was quietly enchanting. Both certainly showed great acting talent in this film.
No loud action and prurient subject matter, just a sweet film showing a man's struggle and a girl's growing up realizing that drugs cripple. This film is hard to reduce to simple formulas. It transcends any mold and entertains in a reflective manner.
- lastliberal
- Dec 25, 2007
- Permalink
I am teacher. And I saw this film from the angle of my job. As a realistic portrait of a special universe. As honest image of the essence of a work. As one of the most inspired performances of Ryan Gosling. As a great film. About the deep reality behind the appearences. A film about truth. And eulogy of friendship. Short, a teacher, his student and the fight against him. Enough for few questions about near reality and the choices around it.
- Kirpianuscus
- Sep 11, 2018
- Permalink
- minigonche
- Oct 17, 2017
- Permalink
Set in Brooklyn, New York where he currently lives, Ryan Fleck's first full-length feature, Half Nelson, is a gritty, sensitive, and emotionally harrowing film that meticulously avoids the inspirational clichés of many teacher-student films and the obligatory violence of films set in the ghetto. The title is derived from a wrestling move in which you turn an attacker's strength back on him. In the case of Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling), an idealistic eight-grade history teacher in an inner city school, he turns the attack on himself, inspiring his students by day and drugging himself at night with crack cocaine.
Dan is a well-liked teacher and basketball coach whose parents (Deborah Rush and Jay O. Sanders) were liberal activists during the 60s and 70s, participating in protests against the Vietnam War but have now substituted alcoholism for political passion. Like his parents, he wants to make an impact on the world but is disillusioned with the current political climate and, out of frustration and fatigue, (like many on the Left today) has drifted into a self-induced stupor. Believing in social justice and that society can be changed through education, he teaches history, to the chagrin of the school's administrator, in the form of Hegelian dialectic, showing that change results from a clash of opposites.
Dan shows his students videos of seminal events from the last fifty years such as the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education ruling that paved the way for desegregation of the schools, clips from the civil rights movement, and Mario Savio speaking on the Berkeley campus during the Free Speech Movement. To its credit, the events in the film do not occur in a political vacuum but attempts to tie in the failed protests of the Left to Dan's drug habit are not entirely persuasive. Dunne's life begins to spiral out of control when one of his students, thirteen-year old Drey (Shareeka Epps), discovers him in the girl's bathroom passed out from ingesting cocaine. Instead of becoming frightened or angry, Drey brings him water and helps him to gradually come down from his high.
Drey comes from a family in which her mother works a double shift and is rarely at home, her father is out of town, and her older brother is in prison for selling drugs, but she is mature and street-wise beyond her age. She promises to keep his secret and both find that their unlikely friendship satisfies an emotional need that Drey cannot find with her classmates and Dan cannot find with other adults. He is dating a fellow teacher (Monique Curnen) but his behavior with her is erratic and his political speeches and drug habits soon turn her off. A former girl friend from his period of rehabilitation (which he said didn't work for him) tells him that she is now getting married which pushes him further into a downward trajectory.
The emotional highlight of the film is a confrontation between Dunne and Frank (Anthony Mackie), a suave drug dealer and associate of Drey's older brother who recruits Drey to be his collector. While Dan wants to steer Drey in the right direction, he is hardly a role model and the results, while promising, are inconclusive. Although the premise of the film is somewhat implausible, Gosling's performance of the charming but flawed teacher is completely credible, so nuanced and touching that we root for him in spite of his capacity for self-destruction. Shareeka Epps is equally convincing in her powerfully understated performance as his tough but sensitive young friend. Co-written by Anna Boden and supported by an outstanding original score by Broken Social Scene, Half Nelson "stands and delivers" one of the finest films of the year.
Dan is a well-liked teacher and basketball coach whose parents (Deborah Rush and Jay O. Sanders) were liberal activists during the 60s and 70s, participating in protests against the Vietnam War but have now substituted alcoholism for political passion. Like his parents, he wants to make an impact on the world but is disillusioned with the current political climate and, out of frustration and fatigue, (like many on the Left today) has drifted into a self-induced stupor. Believing in social justice and that society can be changed through education, he teaches history, to the chagrin of the school's administrator, in the form of Hegelian dialectic, showing that change results from a clash of opposites.
Dan shows his students videos of seminal events from the last fifty years such as the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education ruling that paved the way for desegregation of the schools, clips from the civil rights movement, and Mario Savio speaking on the Berkeley campus during the Free Speech Movement. To its credit, the events in the film do not occur in a political vacuum but attempts to tie in the failed protests of the Left to Dan's drug habit are not entirely persuasive. Dunne's life begins to spiral out of control when one of his students, thirteen-year old Drey (Shareeka Epps), discovers him in the girl's bathroom passed out from ingesting cocaine. Instead of becoming frightened or angry, Drey brings him water and helps him to gradually come down from his high.
Drey comes from a family in which her mother works a double shift and is rarely at home, her father is out of town, and her older brother is in prison for selling drugs, but she is mature and street-wise beyond her age. She promises to keep his secret and both find that their unlikely friendship satisfies an emotional need that Drey cannot find with her classmates and Dan cannot find with other adults. He is dating a fellow teacher (Monique Curnen) but his behavior with her is erratic and his political speeches and drug habits soon turn her off. A former girl friend from his period of rehabilitation (which he said didn't work for him) tells him that she is now getting married which pushes him further into a downward trajectory.
The emotional highlight of the film is a confrontation between Dunne and Frank (Anthony Mackie), a suave drug dealer and associate of Drey's older brother who recruits Drey to be his collector. While Dan wants to steer Drey in the right direction, he is hardly a role model and the results, while promising, are inconclusive. Although the premise of the film is somewhat implausible, Gosling's performance of the charming but flawed teacher is completely credible, so nuanced and touching that we root for him in spite of his capacity for self-destruction. Shareeka Epps is equally convincing in her powerfully understated performance as his tough but sensitive young friend. Co-written by Anna Boden and supported by an outstanding original score by Broken Social Scene, Half Nelson "stands and delivers" one of the finest films of the year.
- howard.schumann
- Sep 3, 2006
- Permalink
Half Nelson, the first feature by director Ryan Fleck, steers clear of the inspiring clichés of teacher-student films and the usual violence of films set in the ghetto.
Half Nelson is a character study, with a meager plot stretched into a one-act film. Not to say this is a bad thing. If one wishes to be thoroughly entertained, steer clear of this film. If one wishes to have a comfortable time at the movies, steer clear of this film. However, if one wishes to view a unique and risky example of independent cinema, see this film.
Any viewer can tell how much blood and sweat went into making Half Nelson, which was shot on 16mm for less than $1 million. Ryan Gosling is truly admirable for seeing something in this screenplay. After breaking viewers' hearts in The Notebook, Gosling carries this film. Gosling plays Dan Dunne, a Brooklyn middle-school teacher who is addicted to crack cocaine, with admirable subtlety. It's a performance that will make the audience cringe with anguish and sympathy as Gosling takes one self-destructive step after another.
It isn't surprising to hear that Half Nelson was once a short film by Fleck titled Gowanus, Brooklyn. That film starred the young actress Shareeka Epps as a bright, tough African-American girl named Drey in Dunne's class. The film characterized her unlikely friendship with Dunne, after she discovered his crack habit. Epps reprises her role in Half Nelson, and is astonishingly good in her feature debut, giving a real, down-to-earth performance. Rounding out the main cast is the charismatic Anthony Mackie as Frank, a local drug dealer who is actually nice.
Anna Boden's screenplay, co-written by Fleck, is filled with ranges of intensity, awkwardness, sadness, and humor. Fleck veers from the norm in his direction, giving an extremely claustrophobic look into the lives of the characters.
Half Nelson, although somewhat painful to watch, will stay with you for a long time.
Half Nelson is a character study, with a meager plot stretched into a one-act film. Not to say this is a bad thing. If one wishes to be thoroughly entertained, steer clear of this film. If one wishes to have a comfortable time at the movies, steer clear of this film. However, if one wishes to view a unique and risky example of independent cinema, see this film.
Any viewer can tell how much blood and sweat went into making Half Nelson, which was shot on 16mm for less than $1 million. Ryan Gosling is truly admirable for seeing something in this screenplay. After breaking viewers' hearts in The Notebook, Gosling carries this film. Gosling plays Dan Dunne, a Brooklyn middle-school teacher who is addicted to crack cocaine, with admirable subtlety. It's a performance that will make the audience cringe with anguish and sympathy as Gosling takes one self-destructive step after another.
It isn't surprising to hear that Half Nelson was once a short film by Fleck titled Gowanus, Brooklyn. That film starred the young actress Shareeka Epps as a bright, tough African-American girl named Drey in Dunne's class. The film characterized her unlikely friendship with Dunne, after she discovered his crack habit. Epps reprises her role in Half Nelson, and is astonishingly good in her feature debut, giving a real, down-to-earth performance. Rounding out the main cast is the charismatic Anthony Mackie as Frank, a local drug dealer who is actually nice.
Anna Boden's screenplay, co-written by Fleck, is filled with ranges of intensity, awkwardness, sadness, and humor. Fleck veers from the norm in his direction, giving an extremely claustrophobic look into the lives of the characters.
Half Nelson, although somewhat painful to watch, will stay with you for a long time.
Anyone who has experienced addiction in their lives, whether your own or someone close to you, will find this film cutting. It is not about the reasons leading to addiction or the recovery, rather it is about the experience of the addiction in its raw reality. Even if you have not experienced addiction in your life, the story is worthwhile and the photography stellar. Ryan Gosling is the perfect portrait of a good person who got lost. His portrayal of a crack head is almost too good. The dialog is not pretentious or assuming and not overused. The story unfolds itself in a very natural manner.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
- delaney907
- Jul 7, 2006
- Permalink
I got to see Half Nelson at one of the art house theaters in my native city of Buffalo and quite frankly I did not know what to make of it. Though I thought the acting was exceptional, especially Ryan Gosling, the story itself and the characters was something I couldn't get into.
Very simply, Ryan Gosling is an inner city junior high school teacher who looks very much like the kind that I would have liked to have had more of back in the day. He's a bright, witty guy who really does relate to his students even though he's white and they're mostly black.
One of them discovers he's got a drug habit, Gosling scores from one of the local dealers in her neighborhood. As you can imagine things just aren't the same after that.
Though his performance is exceptional and maybe even deserving of the Oscar nomination for Best Actor he got, I just could not get up any sympathy over him. He's upset over the state of things in the good old USA, well too bad, a lot of us are, very few of us turn to drugs as are chosen method of protest.
In the end I could not figure out what the point of Half Nelson was. Fans of Ryan Gosling will probably like it though.
Very simply, Ryan Gosling is an inner city junior high school teacher who looks very much like the kind that I would have liked to have had more of back in the day. He's a bright, witty guy who really does relate to his students even though he's white and they're mostly black.
One of them discovers he's got a drug habit, Gosling scores from one of the local dealers in her neighborhood. As you can imagine things just aren't the same after that.
Though his performance is exceptional and maybe even deserving of the Oscar nomination for Best Actor he got, I just could not get up any sympathy over him. He's upset over the state of things in the good old USA, well too bad, a lot of us are, very few of us turn to drugs as are chosen method of protest.
In the end I could not figure out what the point of Half Nelson was. Fans of Ryan Gosling will probably like it though.
- bkoganbing
- Apr 18, 2007
- Permalink
If the strength of the medium of film is to relay meaning which cannot be expressed in words, then I don't think a review of this film on my part would be worth much. In the spirit of keeping things trite, let me just say I have seen quite a few films, quite a few classics, quite a few masterpieces, and frankly, none of them have moved me as much as this film did. How the BRILLIANT director/writers whom I'm sure we have not seen the last of, managed to weave together seamlessly political commentary, commentary on the nature of the modern family/relationships, existential struggles, racial tensions and ironies, and the very struggles with which we are born by simply being human, is beyond me. The end result was nothing short of a masterpiece. This movie will make you think, feel, and hope. Perfection projected.
- eggowaffl-1
- Aug 14, 2006
- Permalink
I think this film is over-rated. The acting is great but... the teacher teaches and has relationships...the kid acts like she wants to be grown up. That's the story in the first hour, which was all I could manage. Sure, they've both got their problems and they interact with each other and their lovers and relatives respectively but not in any very meaningful or interesting way. Plus, it's a bunch of well-worn clichés, albeit done in a somewhat fresh and edgy way. There's a liberal Lefty teacher who 'gets' kids, a warm, funny kid in a dysfunctional black family, drugs are bad for you and your relationships, the school principal is a toughie, sports are about taking part and not winning, black neighbourhoods are scary for white drivers. In practice, the 'rebel' is a sweetie wrapped up in a candy floss film. That goes for the kid, too.
- simon-1303
- Apr 22, 2007
- Permalink
Ryan Gosling delivers a performance in HALF NELSON that is a marvel to watch and to see the talent which this young man/actor brings to the film and screen. Every frame delivers the intensity and drama within this young teacher's life and the issues he handles with his addiction and how he strives to reach his students in the classroom through honesty, humor and the lessons of history delivered on screen.
Just watching Gosling in every frame is a triumph in what character development is all about, along with the brilliance of his performance. Gosling adds HALF NELSON to his outstanding work in the films THE UNITED STATES OF LELAND and the gorgeous NOTEBOOK.
Shareeka Epps as a young, struggling student, is a perfect foil to Gosling, and her intelligence and strength matches that of Gosling as they both deliver scenes that are memorable and tremendous. From the classroom to the basketball court, to the painful addiction scenes, Epps and Gosling make HALF NELSON come alive with anger, pain and the true pathos of life represented in America today.
With the final scene in the film, one can only hope that the characters may move from despair into lives which might give them a sense of hope, and finally a chance, as with the lessons of history, to move beyond their unhappy past into a brighter and more rewarding future.
Just watching Gosling in every frame is a triumph in what character development is all about, along with the brilliance of his performance. Gosling adds HALF NELSON to his outstanding work in the films THE UNITED STATES OF LELAND and the gorgeous NOTEBOOK.
Shareeka Epps as a young, struggling student, is a perfect foil to Gosling, and her intelligence and strength matches that of Gosling as they both deliver scenes that are memorable and tremendous. From the classroom to the basketball court, to the painful addiction scenes, Epps and Gosling make HALF NELSON come alive with anger, pain and the true pathos of life represented in America today.
With the final scene in the film, one can only hope that the characters may move from despair into lives which might give them a sense of hope, and finally a chance, as with the lessons of history, to move beyond their unhappy past into a brighter and more rewarding future.
- screenwriter-14
- Aug 25, 2006
- Permalink
I'm very surprised that it's rated 7.2 out of 10 in IMDB, my opinion that it deserves 1/10.. I wasn't convinced with the acting, worst plot without solution, it's just about a drug addict history teacher and he did nothing worth mentioning in the movie, I really wasted 2 hours for nothing!
And the title is not related to the movie at all.. Much Overrated!
- areejqadomi
- Jun 21, 2020
- Permalink
Dan (Ryan Gosling) is a drug-addicted high school history teacher. Drey (Shareeka Epps) is one of his students, who can see herself possibly following in her brother's footsteps and working for a local drug dealer. Dan and Drey strike up a friendship.
Dan is a smart, fundamentally decent man leading a life of quiet desperation. His ex-gf, Rachel (Tina Holmes), tells him that some people get better, and Dan is adamant in his response. Not him. Change is not for him. To another girl, he explains how he tried rehab, but it doesn't work for him. And yet Dan's desire for change is shown in his lessons to his students. He constantly describes opposites - up and down, left and right - and talks about change. From one breath to your next breath, change has happened. And yet Dan's affliction just provides more and more of the same.
The film is all about Ryan Gosling, who gives us a complete portrait of his character. You just can't take your eyes off of this guy. Whether babbling under the influence or talking with real passion to his students or just sitting quietly saying nothing at all, Gosling shows us a man, who has a lot to give, but is held down by his affliction. The out-of-nowhere flashes of humour and the many moments of vulnerability completely endear us to Dan. His friendship with Drey arouses moral instincts in him that brings his self-loathing and helplessness more to the surface. We understand Dan, and our understanding of him is mirrored in the eyes of all the supporting characters, played out by a perfect ensemble cast. So much is conveyed just in the briefest character exchanges.
So the film succeeds with strong performances and making sure all the pieces fit together with respect and care. And yet the finished puzzle isn't really as gripping as it should be. Maybe because we've been through this material before, or maybe because this is a film that lives through its many small moments and observations. With tense character-driven material like this, I was sort of expecting more flash and meltdown, but this isn't that sort of film. This is a film, where you can admire the focus, commitment, and quality, but its a slow burn - not a big jolt to the system.
Dan is a smart, fundamentally decent man leading a life of quiet desperation. His ex-gf, Rachel (Tina Holmes), tells him that some people get better, and Dan is adamant in his response. Not him. Change is not for him. To another girl, he explains how he tried rehab, but it doesn't work for him. And yet Dan's desire for change is shown in his lessons to his students. He constantly describes opposites - up and down, left and right - and talks about change. From one breath to your next breath, change has happened. And yet Dan's affliction just provides more and more of the same.
The film is all about Ryan Gosling, who gives us a complete portrait of his character. You just can't take your eyes off of this guy. Whether babbling under the influence or talking with real passion to his students or just sitting quietly saying nothing at all, Gosling shows us a man, who has a lot to give, but is held down by his affliction. The out-of-nowhere flashes of humour and the many moments of vulnerability completely endear us to Dan. His friendship with Drey arouses moral instincts in him that brings his self-loathing and helplessness more to the surface. We understand Dan, and our understanding of him is mirrored in the eyes of all the supporting characters, played out by a perfect ensemble cast. So much is conveyed just in the briefest character exchanges.
So the film succeeds with strong performances and making sure all the pieces fit together with respect and care. And yet the finished puzzle isn't really as gripping as it should be. Maybe because we've been through this material before, or maybe because this is a film that lives through its many small moments and observations. With tense character-driven material like this, I was sort of expecting more flash and meltdown, but this isn't that sort of film. This is a film, where you can admire the focus, commitment, and quality, but its a slow burn - not a big jolt to the system.
- he_who_leads
- Jun 22, 2008
- Permalink
Stark and riveting, "Half Nelson" proves we don't need reality entertainment: this non-glossy, non-'Hollywood' drama seems real enough. Junior high school history teacher and girls' basketball coach Ryan Gosling crawls into a crack-clouded fog once he gets home; one of his inner-city students knows his secret, yet she is harboring troubles of her own. Gosling is inherently charismatic and intrinsically smart while working from a gut instinct, resulting in a performance that is constantly surprising, always unpredictable; as an actor, he is so focused (and brave) that we don't recoil from him even as his character is turned inside-out, showing us behavior that is hardly pretty. Supporting cast is equally strong, aided by an outstanding screenplay from Anna Boden and director Ryan Fleck, who shies away from both sentimentality and melodramatic sensationalism. "Half Nelson" is so good, critics run the risk of overpraising it. It is mainly a quiet movie, a character study in a lower key, and yet what we absorb from it can last for days. *** from ****
- moonspinner55
- Aug 7, 2017
- Permalink
"Half Nelson" is a spare, original story with exquisitely natural and fresh performances delivered by Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps and Anthony Mackie. The film covers ground somewhat like what we've seen in "To Sir, With Love," "Dangerous Minds," "The Blackboard Jungle" and other inner-city school dramas. Only this film focuses on the lives of one teacher and student in an intimate and up-close way. "Half Nelson" looks at specific lives and does not generalize. There is little exposition, and so much of what we learn about the characters is deduced from how they said something, rather than what they said. At times, I found myself laughing and smiling through what is a rather disturbing story because of the way the characters react to the circumstances they find themselves in.
I can't say enough good things about this film and highly recommend it because it is well conceived, directed and performed.
I hope it receives support and recognition during the film award season so that a wider audience will find and see this independent film.
I can't say enough good things about this film and highly recommend it because it is well conceived, directed and performed.
I hope it receives support and recognition during the film award season so that a wider audience will find and see this independent film.
- videobrooklyn
- Aug 18, 2006
- Permalink
Ryan Gosling is truly amazing in his film role deliveries. His breakthrough role in "The Believer" 2001 was explosively intense. He consistently gives integral reflective portrayals, even for a departure romantic role in director Nick Cassavetes' "The Notebook" 2004, he was absolutely convincing as Noah who loves Rachel McAdam's Allie to the core. Here in "Half Nelson," he appears to disappear into Dan Dunne, a high school teacher with an ideal and a crack addiction problem. That sure sounds contradictory in terms: a teacher being a role model, while drug addiction a totally unacceptable behavior. As Dunne wrote on the blackboard in the beginning: 'Dialectics,' the film "Half Nelson" is in itself dialectics demonstrated.
Gosling's Mr. Dunne the history 'teach' doubling also as basketball coach, meeting (a solid matching delivery from) Shareeka Epps' Drey, the 13-year old student who 'found' him and 'witnessed' his secret - theirs is a relationship, naturally portrayed, of two 'opposing' forces as dialectics as can be. I felt Drey is the primary force that 'helped' Dunne's secondary force to yield and together, they created a contradiction anew as life goes on.
I remember from a 1969 book, a quote that might describe the heart of "Half Nelson": "Contradictions are the source of all movement and of all life. All things are in themselves contradictory and it is this principle, more than any other, which expresses the essence of things."
In a way, contradictory yet similar: Dunne and Drey both are 'on their own' trying to hang on, to manage the conflicts in their life's journey. Do we need all the answers in life? Do we have to know why someone behave as he/she does or something happen as it did? Director Ryan Fleck and co-writer/editor/producer Anna Boden tried not to 'over-explain anything'. Sometimes the answer can simply be: "I don't know."
"Half Nelson" is an ambitious film. Besides 'comments' on educational system, single parent family strife, Dan's addiction predicament, the script also managed to include political viewpoints unobtrusively expressed through talking heads of single student reciting historical civil rights movement events. The 'R' rating does indicate some intimate scenes, clever inter-cuts juxtaposing what the two forces were each doing at the moment. Music (by "Broken-Social-Scene") is timely applied at certain segments but sparingly. Well-rounded supporting cast, especially Anthony Mackie as Frank the 'friendly' dealer who may want to do right by Drey but only in the way he knows how within the realms of selling drugs (reminds me of w-d Boaz Yakin's "Fresh" 1994, brilliant debut performance by Sean Nelson as the 12-year old interacting with a dealer 'mentor').
Kudos to all involved on "Half Nelson". The film was shot in Brooklyn, New York. Thanks to ThinkFilm for being the distributor (documentary: Spellbound; Murderball; March of the Penguins; drama: The Last Kiss - Italy; Kontroll - Hungary; Gus Van Sant's Gerry).
Gosling's Mr. Dunne the history 'teach' doubling also as basketball coach, meeting (a solid matching delivery from) Shareeka Epps' Drey, the 13-year old student who 'found' him and 'witnessed' his secret - theirs is a relationship, naturally portrayed, of two 'opposing' forces as dialectics as can be. I felt Drey is the primary force that 'helped' Dunne's secondary force to yield and together, they created a contradiction anew as life goes on.
I remember from a 1969 book, a quote that might describe the heart of "Half Nelson": "Contradictions are the source of all movement and of all life. All things are in themselves contradictory and it is this principle, more than any other, which expresses the essence of things."
In a way, contradictory yet similar: Dunne and Drey both are 'on their own' trying to hang on, to manage the conflicts in their life's journey. Do we need all the answers in life? Do we have to know why someone behave as he/she does or something happen as it did? Director Ryan Fleck and co-writer/editor/producer Anna Boden tried not to 'over-explain anything'. Sometimes the answer can simply be: "I don't know."
"Half Nelson" is an ambitious film. Besides 'comments' on educational system, single parent family strife, Dan's addiction predicament, the script also managed to include political viewpoints unobtrusively expressed through talking heads of single student reciting historical civil rights movement events. The 'R' rating does indicate some intimate scenes, clever inter-cuts juxtaposing what the two forces were each doing at the moment. Music (by "Broken-Social-Scene") is timely applied at certain segments but sparingly. Well-rounded supporting cast, especially Anthony Mackie as Frank the 'friendly' dealer who may want to do right by Drey but only in the way he knows how within the realms of selling drugs (reminds me of w-d Boaz Yakin's "Fresh" 1994, brilliant debut performance by Sean Nelson as the 12-year old interacting with a dealer 'mentor').
Kudos to all involved on "Half Nelson". The film was shot in Brooklyn, New York. Thanks to ThinkFilm for being the distributor (documentary: Spellbound; Murderball; March of the Penguins; drama: The Last Kiss - Italy; Kontroll - Hungary; Gus Van Sant's Gerry).
Nacho cheese. Half Nelson is a film that ticks all the requirements for indie movie making; shot largely with hand held cameras in close up, a soundtrack that consists of whining miserablists and a lead character played by a bleary eyed Canadian with a groovy designer beard. At first this makes it somewhat off-putting but stick with it, the film overcoming its stereotypes and providing a moving, low key study of a man consumed by his inner demons. This is largely due to the quality of acting put in, leads Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps investing a huge stock of humanity in their subjects. So much so that they even manage to make the slow pace and dream-like atmosphere into a watchable little gem that despite not being as good as some critics would have you believe, is still worth rooting out.
Gosling plays teacher Dan Dunne. By day he galvanises his students with his passionate (if somewhat repetitive) history lessons on the American civil rights movement. Handsome, intelligent and entirely capable of wooing the pants off his female co-workers, his outward confidence masks a dark self-loathing which sees him snorting vast quantities of cocaine every night. His isolated bubble of self-destruction however is burst when thirteen year old Drey (Epps) catches him toked up on Bolivian Marching Powder in the school toilets. Instead of running to the faculty though, Drey brings him water and helps him through the comedown, this awkward moment leading to an unlikely friendship between the two.
Needless to say then that despite being set in an inner-city high school largely populated by an angry black teenagers, Half Nelson is a far cry from the bombastic likes of 187 or Dangerous Minds. The tone is considerably more subtle and while the plot synopsis might raise the odd eyebrow, Dunne's relationship with Drey is more reminiscent of a big brother looking after his younger sister than anything particularly dubious. Unlike the aforementioned movies, Half Nelson also avoids high melodrama and ends ambiguously, offering no clear cut solutions to Gosling's addiction or indeed, if he intends to stop at all. Consequently, Half Nelson doesn't really feel like a movie but a snapshot of two people's lives at one potentially crucial moment when they overlap.
The story admittedly isn't especially interesting in its own right and at times it slows to a crawl, but it's held together by the two leads. Gosling at first seems to have graduated from the Nicholas Cage school of acting by uh...you know, taking a really...hmmm. Long. Time to...to...say anything, but as the film unfolds you notice how impressive his performance is. Every flicker of those sad, sad eyes is carefully timed, each sigh carefully nuanced and by the time the credits roll, there's no question his Oscar nomination was well deserved. Epps on the other hand puts in a 'mature-beyond-her-years' performance of a young girl faced with a wealth of social frustration (her brother is in jail, her uncle is a drug dealer). At times she is furiously independent, at others she expresses an intensely child like vulnerability and it is her accusatory gaze that first opens Dunne's eyes to how far down the line he has travelled.
As an acting masterclass then Half Nelson is essential watching. However, it is also a film that shys away from flashy showmanship and doesn't patronise the audience with over the top messages about the evil of drugs. The worst physical affliction Dunne gets is a nose bleed, but the sheer mental toll that his habit has caused is all too evident in his hunched over resignation. It might not be as good as Scorsese's masterpiece, but this is still one of the best portraits of urban male angst since Taxi Driver, only with dialectics and cocaine instead of bullet-riddled pimps and special forces hair cuts.
Gosling plays teacher Dan Dunne. By day he galvanises his students with his passionate (if somewhat repetitive) history lessons on the American civil rights movement. Handsome, intelligent and entirely capable of wooing the pants off his female co-workers, his outward confidence masks a dark self-loathing which sees him snorting vast quantities of cocaine every night. His isolated bubble of self-destruction however is burst when thirteen year old Drey (Epps) catches him toked up on Bolivian Marching Powder in the school toilets. Instead of running to the faculty though, Drey brings him water and helps him through the comedown, this awkward moment leading to an unlikely friendship between the two.
Needless to say then that despite being set in an inner-city high school largely populated by an angry black teenagers, Half Nelson is a far cry from the bombastic likes of 187 or Dangerous Minds. The tone is considerably more subtle and while the plot synopsis might raise the odd eyebrow, Dunne's relationship with Drey is more reminiscent of a big brother looking after his younger sister than anything particularly dubious. Unlike the aforementioned movies, Half Nelson also avoids high melodrama and ends ambiguously, offering no clear cut solutions to Gosling's addiction or indeed, if he intends to stop at all. Consequently, Half Nelson doesn't really feel like a movie but a snapshot of two people's lives at one potentially crucial moment when they overlap.
The story admittedly isn't especially interesting in its own right and at times it slows to a crawl, but it's held together by the two leads. Gosling at first seems to have graduated from the Nicholas Cage school of acting by uh...you know, taking a really...hmmm. Long. Time to...to...say anything, but as the film unfolds you notice how impressive his performance is. Every flicker of those sad, sad eyes is carefully timed, each sigh carefully nuanced and by the time the credits roll, there's no question his Oscar nomination was well deserved. Epps on the other hand puts in a 'mature-beyond-her-years' performance of a young girl faced with a wealth of social frustration (her brother is in jail, her uncle is a drug dealer). At times she is furiously independent, at others she expresses an intensely child like vulnerability and it is her accusatory gaze that first opens Dunne's eyes to how far down the line he has travelled.
As an acting masterclass then Half Nelson is essential watching. However, it is also a film that shys away from flashy showmanship and doesn't patronise the audience with over the top messages about the evil of drugs. The worst physical affliction Dunne gets is a nose bleed, but the sheer mental toll that his habit has caused is all too evident in his hunched over resignation. It might not be as good as Scorsese's masterpiece, but this is still one of the best portraits of urban male angst since Taxi Driver, only with dialectics and cocaine instead of bullet-riddled pimps and special forces hair cuts.
- ExpendableMan
- Apr 18, 2008
- Permalink
The litmus of test of good art is in how it affects you. I saw this film yesterday and still can not stop dissecting and discovering new aspects of the story. There is a truth in this film that can't be put into words. This is the sort of film that needs to be seen by everybody. The frailty of being human is never so more eloquently laid on film than in this movie(and I'm not just talking Ryan Gosling here). The writing/directing team need to be looked at for academy award nomination. This is some of the best American film has to offer. Casting for this film I can imagine must have been difficult, the choices made were nothing short of perfection. Shareeka Epps, Ryan Gosling and Anthony Mackie all deserve Academy award nominations. Look at this movie Hollywood this is what film is supposed to be. This movie will stay with me forever.
- Sherrylmartinez
- Aug 17, 2006
- Permalink
This harrowing film, about a drug-addicted teacher, provides few laughs. It does offer an unflinching portrait of dependency and nihilism, as well as a glance at the American underclass that never sinks into melodrama; the racial divisions of the United States are likewise shown in a convincing manner, without being overplayed. But the movie could have done with something to provide it with a little bit more spark; the references (supported by old film clips) to the historical events the teacher refers to are not enough for this purpose, and can seem a little heavy-handed. The film certainly has merits; but it is at times in danger of reducing the viewer to a similar state of ennui to that which it portrays.
- paul2001sw-1
- Sep 10, 2008
- Permalink
I like Ryan Gosling. There's something nice about him. The individual characters in this movie seem to be nice. Even supposed bad guys are nice. But the reason why I didn't like the movie was nothing much happens. Nothing's changed between the starting scene and the ending. We are left wondering "So that's it?".
If you like slow movies and scenes where nothing much happens you may like this movie. This movie also reminded me of Hugh Grants About a boy but that movie had some plot while this did not Also you will find the irritating hand camera work.. and I don't know why they use that technique.
If you like slow movies and scenes where nothing much happens you may like this movie. This movie also reminded me of Hugh Grants About a boy but that movie had some plot while this did not Also you will find the irritating hand camera work.. and I don't know why they use that technique.
Dan Dunne is a young teacher in an inner-city school who has a novel and relaxed approach to teaching history. Instead of talking facts and dates, Dunne tries to inspire and engage his students. He also smokes crack and does cocaine to try and numb out daily life. One night he gets high in the changing rooms after his team's basketball match and is discovered by student Drey. With this secret between them, Drey is attracted to Dunne as a friend as well as a teacher, since her isolated life sees her lacking friends or role-models. An uneasy and perhaps inappropriate relationship develops between them while independently they face the opportunities to make right and wrong decisions about their own lives.
I wanted to like this film much more than I actually did. Cosmetically it appears to want to be the antithesis of the typical high school/inspirational and edgy teacher stuff and the camera movements and slow development suggest that it will be this realer, darker, more honest. The intelligence behind the idea is also evident as we see Dunne's talk of opposing forces, dialectics, becoming real within his life in regards his interaction with Drey. This works reasonably well but the material is perhaps too remote from the characters, with little in the way of comment on the lives we have laid in front of us and little in the way of debate between the characters on the issues either. This rather spark wordless bond implies depth and there is some there but the film doesn't help itself in regards the words it does play out in the open.
By this I mean Dunne's lessons. I am a liberal and do believe that school should be about more than facts and figures but even I struggled to see what Dunne was achieving in his class. OK, he is a variation on the "different but effective" teacher we see in all this genre but his occasionally semi-coherent babblings and thematic discussions often came across as self-important, self-serving and selfish. I doubt this was the point but that is how it came over to me and it forced me to ask if I really cared about the character. The reaction of the pupils and his ease of access suggests that he is working but the film could have helped this by showing some actual learning going in within this framework/approach. Fleck's direction is good but as a writer with Boden I wanted more in the way of substance, not making it "easier" perhaps but just a touch more accessible.
What covered the material failings for me were the performances. Gosling is impressive in the lead role and he is true to the material even if that does hurt his character. He doesn't always manage to convince within his skin but he is good. My reservation in praising him might surprise some (after all he was Oscar nominated) but to me it is hard to gush about him when he is alongside a wonderfully restrained and yet emotive performance from Epps. Regardless of age, she is engaging with a performance that perfectly contradicts the outward surliness with the vulnerability etc under the surface. It is hard to dislike her in this and for me she was the hook that kept me interested. Mackie is solid in his role, avoiding easy cliché that could have been his whole role. The whole show is the lead two but smaller turns are good from others as well.
Overall then, this is not all that I had hoped it would be. At times it appears intelligent and offering edgy potential but it is difficult to get into and the lack of debate on the characters and their lives does rather make the film hard to get into and leaves it less accessible than I wanted. The performances do a lot to cover the weaknesses and Epps is excellent in particular but don't come to this mistaking it for a mainstream film, because it is not.
I wanted to like this film much more than I actually did. Cosmetically it appears to want to be the antithesis of the typical high school/inspirational and edgy teacher stuff and the camera movements and slow development suggest that it will be this realer, darker, more honest. The intelligence behind the idea is also evident as we see Dunne's talk of opposing forces, dialectics, becoming real within his life in regards his interaction with Drey. This works reasonably well but the material is perhaps too remote from the characters, with little in the way of comment on the lives we have laid in front of us and little in the way of debate between the characters on the issues either. This rather spark wordless bond implies depth and there is some there but the film doesn't help itself in regards the words it does play out in the open.
By this I mean Dunne's lessons. I am a liberal and do believe that school should be about more than facts and figures but even I struggled to see what Dunne was achieving in his class. OK, he is a variation on the "different but effective" teacher we see in all this genre but his occasionally semi-coherent babblings and thematic discussions often came across as self-important, self-serving and selfish. I doubt this was the point but that is how it came over to me and it forced me to ask if I really cared about the character. The reaction of the pupils and his ease of access suggests that he is working but the film could have helped this by showing some actual learning going in within this framework/approach. Fleck's direction is good but as a writer with Boden I wanted more in the way of substance, not making it "easier" perhaps but just a touch more accessible.
What covered the material failings for me were the performances. Gosling is impressive in the lead role and he is true to the material even if that does hurt his character. He doesn't always manage to convince within his skin but he is good. My reservation in praising him might surprise some (after all he was Oscar nominated) but to me it is hard to gush about him when he is alongside a wonderfully restrained and yet emotive performance from Epps. Regardless of age, she is engaging with a performance that perfectly contradicts the outward surliness with the vulnerability etc under the surface. It is hard to dislike her in this and for me she was the hook that kept me interested. Mackie is solid in his role, avoiding easy cliché that could have been his whole role. The whole show is the lead two but smaller turns are good from others as well.
Overall then, this is not all that I had hoped it would be. At times it appears intelligent and offering edgy potential but it is difficult to get into and the lack of debate on the characters and their lives does rather make the film hard to get into and leaves it less accessible than I wanted. The performances do a lot to cover the weaknesses and Epps is excellent in particular but don't come to this mistaking it for a mainstream film, because it is not.
- bob the moo
- Nov 27, 2007
- Permalink