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.
231 Reviews
The Life You Save May Be Your Own
wes-connors7 June 2009
"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
The only constant is change.
lastliberal26 December 2007
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.
honest perspective
Kirpianuscus12 September 2018
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.
Empathy has no age
minigonche18 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Yes, It's a story about a washed out teacher with a drug problem.. But what I love about this film is that he feels close, similar, like it happened to you.
No one is bad or good, they're all just human. A film that teaches us that connection comes from the soul, not from age. There are no dramas, no over the top fights, screams or disasters... Witness how life happens under unfruitful circumstances and how it always continues.
No one is bad or good, they're all just human. A film that teaches us that connection comes from the soul, not from age. There are no dramas, no over the top fights, screams or disasters... Witness how life happens under unfruitful circumstances and how it always continues.
Gritty and sensitive
howard.schumann4 September 2006
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.
Nelson's lessons linger
xander3413 October 2006
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.
Awesome
delaney9078 July 2006
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.
Do As I Say, Not As I Do
bkoganbing19 April 2007
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.
-
eggowaffl-115 August 2006
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.
Great acting about nothing at all
simon-130323 April 2007
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.
HALF NELSON...A Ryan Gosling Film Triumph
screenwriter-1426 August 2006
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.
The inner city teacher
jotix10014 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
The job of a teacher in an inner city school deserves to be recognized as it is not an easy job by any means. Dan Dunne, who is a history teacher, and a coach of the girls' basketball team, in addition of the difficulties of his daily life, has an added problem in that he is an addict of cocaine and other substances.
As if that weren't enough, his life is a mess as well. It shows in the way he lives, his messy apartment, the way he keeps himself. That doesn't mean he is not an intelligent person, but drugs have taken a lot from him. Dan is a man with leftist values. We see it in the way he teaches his class about recent events that relate to his almost all black students.
Drey, a sensitive student, appears to be a loner. She has seen what the drugs did to his brother, now in jail for dealing. He has been put away for a while, but ratting on Frank, the big man that used him to distribute the dope. Her single working mother, Karen, is having a tough time making ends meet with a job that doesn't pay well.
Drey sees in her teacher Don a flawed role model. While Don is kind to the girl, she realizes he has a huge problem as an addict. Their relationship comes to a standstill when the girl, who has decided to work for Frank, comes bringing cocaine to a house where she sees Don in a horrible state. Their relationship will no doubt suffer on account of this experience. Surprisingly, the film ends in a hopeful note as Drey comes to visit Don to share a quiet moment with him.
Ryan Fleck directed with a keen understanding of the situation at hand. Mr. Fleck also contributed to the screenplay with Anna Boden. The film is painful to watch, at times. Yet, it doesn't depress us the way we thought it would. Ryan Gosling gives a sensitive portrait of the man who has stooped low and doesn't know how to climb back up. Shareeka Epps also made an impression as Drey. Anthony Mackey, a fine actor makes an excellent Frank. The same can be said about Karen Chilton who plays Drey's mother. Deborah Rush has a chance to shine as Don's mother.
"Half Nelson" shows a realistic portrait of the world it depicts.
As if that weren't enough, his life is a mess as well. It shows in the way he lives, his messy apartment, the way he keeps himself. That doesn't mean he is not an intelligent person, but drugs have taken a lot from him. Dan is a man with leftist values. We see it in the way he teaches his class about recent events that relate to his almost all black students.
Drey, a sensitive student, appears to be a loner. She has seen what the drugs did to his brother, now in jail for dealing. He has been put away for a while, but ratting on Frank, the big man that used him to distribute the dope. Her single working mother, Karen, is having a tough time making ends meet with a job that doesn't pay well.
Drey sees in her teacher Don a flawed role model. While Don is kind to the girl, she realizes he has a huge problem as an addict. Their relationship comes to a standstill when the girl, who has decided to work for Frank, comes bringing cocaine to a house where she sees Don in a horrible state. Their relationship will no doubt suffer on account of this experience. Surprisingly, the film ends in a hopeful note as Drey comes to visit Don to share a quiet moment with him.
Ryan Fleck directed with a keen understanding of the situation at hand. Mr. Fleck also contributed to the screenplay with Anna Boden. The film is painful to watch, at times. Yet, it doesn't depress us the way we thought it would. Ryan Gosling gives a sensitive portrait of the man who has stooped low and doesn't know how to climb back up. Shareeka Epps also made an impression as Drey. Anthony Mackey, a fine actor makes an excellent Frank. The same can be said about Karen Chilton who plays Drey's mother. Deborah Rush has a chance to shine as Don's mother.
"Half Nelson" shows a realistic portrait of the world it depicts.
Very much overrated
areejqadomi22 June 2020
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!
Gritty, realistic story about drugs and school.
TxMike12 March 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Ryan Gosling stars as Dan Dunne, a teacher in New York. He appears to be a good, caring History teacher, but we see early that he has developed a serious dependency on drugs. He starts his day that way, and as the day nears its end, we see him struggling to finish out his day.
Dan also coaches the girls' basketball team. Shareeka Epps, small and short, stars as Drey, a girl with a good head on her shoulders, but sort of mixed up with the wrong kind of adult family "friend." She earns some spending money for her mother by helping to make deliveries.
After one game, girls' locker room empty, Dan is hiding in a stall when Drey finds him, stoned. It becomes their secret, buy Drey becomes his friend, getting the occasional ride home, and watches as she sees Dan spiraling down deeper. It is a movie, a story, to see if Dan can achieve some sort of redemption.
A good movie, if hard to watch at times. Geat acting by the two leads.
SPOILERS. One evening Drey is making a delivery, and she sees that the customer is Dan. This is a revelation for her, finally putting a real face to that dirty business, and we believe that she will be getting out of it. We also see that she will help Dan, her friend, climb out of his personal dungeon.
Dan also coaches the girls' basketball team. Shareeka Epps, small and short, stars as Drey, a girl with a good head on her shoulders, but sort of mixed up with the wrong kind of adult family "friend." She earns some spending money for her mother by helping to make deliveries.
After one game, girls' locker room empty, Dan is hiding in a stall when Drey finds him, stoned. It becomes their secret, buy Drey becomes his friend, getting the occasional ride home, and watches as she sees Dan spiraling down deeper. It is a movie, a story, to see if Dan can achieve some sort of redemption.
A good movie, if hard to watch at times. Geat acting by the two leads.
SPOILERS. One evening Drey is making a delivery, and she sees that the customer is Dan. This is a revelation for her, finally putting a real face to that dirty business, and we believe that she will be getting out of it. We also see that she will help Dan, her friend, climb out of his personal dungeon.
Half Nelson
mrslythe15 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Half Nelson, a hold in which a wrestler, from behind the opponent, passes one arm under the corresponding arm of the opponent and locks the hand on the back of the opponent's neck. The definition of this film corresponds perfectly with the situation that Daniel Dunn, played by Ryan Gosling, is strangled in. Shot in what seems to be inner-city New York, Ryan Gosling portrays a drug addicted junior high History teacher, who gets caught doing drugs by one of his students, Drey, played by Shareeka Epps, and from that point on, "Teach" and Drey continue to build an irregular relationship not knowing both individuals live similar yet contrasting lives. Directed by Ryan Fleck and Oscar nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Ryan Gosling, this drama released in 2006 would have not been given the chance for an Academy Award if it wasn't for the hand-held camera shots and the parallel editing.
Going into most pictures I set myself up ready for a formalistic type of film, the classic technique over content. However in Half Nelson, ninety-five percent of the movie is filmed in the hand-held camera view which suggests documentary footage in an uncontrolled setting. The movie is not a documentary, though the constant movement of the camera proposes the realistic aspect of the film and the intensity of all the characters. Adding to the intensity are the overused close-up and medium close-up shots, which expels the locale, therefore allows the viewer to focus on the expressions that the actors are producing; by doing this Ryan Gosling was able to get nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars, because his emotions are so clear, and I as the audience was able to recognize who his character was, due to the continuously shot of close- ups.
Close-up shots aren't the only aspects of intensification, parallel editing is a favorable way to visualize alternating shots from two sequences that suggest they are taking place at the same time. In Half Nelson parallel editing is used to show both the lives of Daniel Dunn and Drey occurring at the same time during different scenes. A certain scene that shows a great example of this is when Daniel Dunn is having dinner at his parent's house, and at the same time Drey is getting ready to go on a ride to do drug deals with Frank, a pretty much "family" member that watches over Drey and her mother while Drey's brother resides in jail; played by the strong willed actor, Anthony Mackie. Both the scenes come to a conclusion that have Drey escorting drugs to a dark sketchy motel and winds up spotting her teacher inside the room. This technique can also be used to differentiate types of groups with music, like Daniel's family listening to the Toronto band Broken Social Scene, while Drey and Frank listened to Rap music.
Half Nelson's style of film did throw me off and I almost thought director Ryan Fleck was being put in submission by the Full Nelson, but in the end the strong Oscar nominated performance by Ryan Gosling and the addition of technique used throughout pulls through as a drama that everyone should see. The film may take time to adjust to but like Drey once said "What do you call cheese that's not yours? Nacho Cheese." It may not be your cheese but it doesn't hurt to get a taste.
Going into most pictures I set myself up ready for a formalistic type of film, the classic technique over content. However in Half Nelson, ninety-five percent of the movie is filmed in the hand-held camera view which suggests documentary footage in an uncontrolled setting. The movie is not a documentary, though the constant movement of the camera proposes the realistic aspect of the film and the intensity of all the characters. Adding to the intensity are the overused close-up and medium close-up shots, which expels the locale, therefore allows the viewer to focus on the expressions that the actors are producing; by doing this Ryan Gosling was able to get nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars, because his emotions are so clear, and I as the audience was able to recognize who his character was, due to the continuously shot of close- ups.
Close-up shots aren't the only aspects of intensification, parallel editing is a favorable way to visualize alternating shots from two sequences that suggest they are taking place at the same time. In Half Nelson parallel editing is used to show both the lives of Daniel Dunn and Drey occurring at the same time during different scenes. A certain scene that shows a great example of this is when Daniel Dunn is having dinner at his parent's house, and at the same time Drey is getting ready to go on a ride to do drug deals with Frank, a pretty much "family" member that watches over Drey and her mother while Drey's brother resides in jail; played by the strong willed actor, Anthony Mackie. Both the scenes come to a conclusion that have Drey escorting drugs to a dark sketchy motel and winds up spotting her teacher inside the room. This technique can also be used to differentiate types of groups with music, like Daniel's family listening to the Toronto band Broken Social Scene, while Drey and Frank listened to Rap music.
Half Nelson's style of film did throw me off and I almost thought director Ryan Fleck was being put in submission by the Full Nelson, but in the end the strong Oscar nominated performance by Ryan Gosling and the addition of technique used throughout pulls through as a drama that everyone should see. The film may take time to adjust to but like Drey once said "What do you call cheese that's not yours? Nacho Cheese." It may not be your cheese but it doesn't hurt to get a taste.
The Ryan Gosling Film
he_who_leads23 June 2008
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.
"I was 21 years when I wrote this song/I'm 22 now, but I won't be for long"
moonspinner558 August 2017
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 ****
A Mesmerizing Character Study!
g-bodyl19 February 2014
Half Nelson, a very low-budget movie, happens to be one of the most intense, revealing character dramas of recent years. At first, I didn't like the choppy camera work but then I came to realize it added a more gritty, realistic feeling to the film. It's definitely slow and kind of depressing, but the teacher-student relation will keep you entranced and wondering what is going to happen to these two.
Ryan Fleck's film is about a history teacher and basketball coach who has a serious drug habit and he keeps going everyday because of his love of the subject and more importantly, his students. But one day, one of his students, a troubled girl, witnesses his secret and that secret will bring them together along a shared path.
Ryan Gosling has been in so many great movies but this one of his best early roles as leading man. He gives one hell of a performance and it shows how this dude can act. Does he play a bad man? I would think not. Is he a good guy with serious flaws? I would say yes. Because of Gosling's intense portrayal, we care about what happens to this guy. Shareeka Epps does very well as the troubled girl and she holds her own against Gosling.
Overall, Half Nelson is a beautiful drama about how two similarly depressed people are able to connect even though they don't find much in life. It's a bit depressing but at the same time, it can be a tad uplifting as well. For a very low budget, this film speaks on higher levels and proves you don't need extremely high budgets to make good movies. I rate this film 9/10.
Ryan Fleck's film is about a history teacher and basketball coach who has a serious drug habit and he keeps going everyday because of his love of the subject and more importantly, his students. But one day, one of his students, a troubled girl, witnesses his secret and that secret will bring them together along a shared path.
Ryan Gosling has been in so many great movies but this one of his best early roles as leading man. He gives one hell of a performance and it shows how this dude can act. Does he play a bad man? I would think not. Is he a good guy with serious flaws? I would say yes. Because of Gosling's intense portrayal, we care about what happens to this guy. Shareeka Epps does very well as the troubled girl and she holds her own against Gosling.
Overall, Half Nelson is a beautiful drama about how two similarly depressed people are able to connect even though they don't find much in life. It's a bit depressing but at the same time, it can be a tad uplifting as well. For a very low budget, this film speaks on higher levels and proves you don't need extremely high budgets to make good movies. I rate this film 9/10.
Not One False Note in this Film
videobrooklyn19 August 2006
"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.
Boring nonsense
witthayu15 September 2007
Well I was expecting a super movie after all the hype. But this movie is so boring and depressing, I would have walked out of it would I have seen it in the cinema.
RG yeah, he showed that he can 'act' but well the whole movie consists of 2 parts.
RG getting high and he talks about blacks and civil rights. Is the movie good because the dope user is white and breaks some race pattern? Maybe you have to be American to understand this mess.
OK they tell me to put in more lines. But more lines would be too much effort for a poor movie like that. Go see Transformers or Die Hard.
RG yeah, he showed that he can 'act' but well the whole movie consists of 2 parts.
RG getting high and he talks about blacks and civil rights. Is the movie good because the dope user is white and breaks some race pattern? Maybe you have to be American to understand this mess.
OK they tell me to put in more lines. But more lines would be too much effort for a poor movie like that. Go see Transformers or Die Hard.
The 'dialectics' indie filmmakers Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden created in "Half Nelson" is realized by Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps' unarguably nuanced performances
ruby_fff3 September 2006
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).
Another step up for Gosling
SnoopyStyle30 December 2013
Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) teaches history at Brooklyn high school attended mostly by black and Hispanic students. He engages his students inside the classroom. Outside of his classroom, he's a drug addict. His ex Rachel (Tina Holmes) was able to get clean, but not him. Then one day in school, one of his students Drey (Shareeka Epps) catches him in the bathroom. They form a complex relationship.
This is another step in Ryan Gosling's acting career. He's perfectly natural as this a complicated character. After 'The Notebook', he could easily devolve into a nothing acting unable to take chances. He's definitely taken a chance here. He doesn't overplay the character. It's a subtle performance, and he's well supported by Shareeka as well as others.
This is another step in Ryan Gosling's acting career. He's perfectly natural as this a complicated character. After 'The Notebook', he could easily devolve into a nothing acting unable to take chances. He's definitely taken a chance here. He doesn't overplay the character. It's a subtle performance, and he's well supported by Shareeka as well as others.
half nelson needs t o be reexamined
DjohnsonC-326 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I have been reading many reviews about this film for weeks so I was anxious to see it. I was hoping for something new.
There seems to be a very prominent but hard to overlook attraction by young, talented, new white filmmakers taking up the subjects of urban black and Latino lives as fodder for either liberal expression, societal outrage or possible fetishism. From "Maria Full of Grace", "GirlsTown", "Everyday People" (HBO), "Quinceanera" now "Half Nelson", we have story lines looking at underprivileged black and Latino folk through a prism that seems to be very similar. In these stories there is a little sadness, some anthropological observation, a fair amount of non judgmental characterizations and realism but as independent and daring as these films claimed to be, they are no better than watching "Dangerous Minds", a studio film of a few years ago. Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad at you. Most black filmmakers seem to be preoccupied these days with the three p's-Tyler Perry, Tyrese and taking the money so it's hard to complain when other filmmakers find the stories of black and Latino culture such a rich place to be.
So here comes "Half Nelson" as the latest in this stream. I really wanted to like this one but it falls into the same unfortunate traps as the others. I'm watching this film and seeing the absent of any black adult with any speaking part with a positive image for this young girl to benefit from. Ryan Gosling is a gifted and natural artist and Epps is quite good and real but the choices the writer and director make are choices that show where they are coming from. Dan brings in the light because the lives of the kids in his class are in the dark. With Epps' mom working so much are we to believe Epps is not loved? Hard to know. Her father is not around but apparently without a voice or point of view and dogged by her mother. Her brother is in prison but he doesn't seem to be evolved enough to realize that he must do differently when he gets out. And then there's Mackie's character, a good guy but he's selling product in the community. The man's a businessman but not quite the positive role model you'd like to have any kid look up to.
The polyglot nature of our world gives us all configurations of relationships in how people find family, opportunity and friendship but I never found what Dan is going through in his addiction particularly profound or revealing. Sure he's high half the time, sure he's aimless and passionate like a lot of aimless and educated young white and black folk who don't know what to do and how to affect change in this world but when you make a movie and lay your hero in a world he knows little about, give the world a little more credit. Switch the situation around. take out the drugs and go back thirty years and you have "To Sir with Love". The only difference, Poitier's character had a chip on his shoulder not a monkey on his back and the kids he was dealing with and Lulu's character particularly didn't want to take that chip off, she wanted to learn from him. I don't know what this 13 year old learns from Dan. Maybe she's learned how to take care of a guy who needs someone to take care of him, which really sets her up for an unfortunate job title in her future. We don't know what she dreams about for her future. We have no idea. She sure has not learned much about the civil rights movement in what is shown in the film. He is trying to impress on the kids to expand their minds in a semi Socratic educational style but these kids are sponges and a point of view from a teacher is not actually teaching. I want to know the filmmaker's point in making this film. I'm really curious. That's my two cents.
There seems to be a very prominent but hard to overlook attraction by young, talented, new white filmmakers taking up the subjects of urban black and Latino lives as fodder for either liberal expression, societal outrage or possible fetishism. From "Maria Full of Grace", "GirlsTown", "Everyday People" (HBO), "Quinceanera" now "Half Nelson", we have story lines looking at underprivileged black and Latino folk through a prism that seems to be very similar. In these stories there is a little sadness, some anthropological observation, a fair amount of non judgmental characterizations and realism but as independent and daring as these films claimed to be, they are no better than watching "Dangerous Minds", a studio film of a few years ago. Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad at you. Most black filmmakers seem to be preoccupied these days with the three p's-Tyler Perry, Tyrese and taking the money so it's hard to complain when other filmmakers find the stories of black and Latino culture such a rich place to be.
So here comes "Half Nelson" as the latest in this stream. I really wanted to like this one but it falls into the same unfortunate traps as the others. I'm watching this film and seeing the absent of any black adult with any speaking part with a positive image for this young girl to benefit from. Ryan Gosling is a gifted and natural artist and Epps is quite good and real but the choices the writer and director make are choices that show where they are coming from. Dan brings in the light because the lives of the kids in his class are in the dark. With Epps' mom working so much are we to believe Epps is not loved? Hard to know. Her father is not around but apparently without a voice or point of view and dogged by her mother. Her brother is in prison but he doesn't seem to be evolved enough to realize that he must do differently when he gets out. And then there's Mackie's character, a good guy but he's selling product in the community. The man's a businessman but not quite the positive role model you'd like to have any kid look up to.
The polyglot nature of our world gives us all configurations of relationships in how people find family, opportunity and friendship but I never found what Dan is going through in his addiction particularly profound or revealing. Sure he's high half the time, sure he's aimless and passionate like a lot of aimless and educated young white and black folk who don't know what to do and how to affect change in this world but when you make a movie and lay your hero in a world he knows little about, give the world a little more credit. Switch the situation around. take out the drugs and go back thirty years and you have "To Sir with Love". The only difference, Poitier's character had a chip on his shoulder not a monkey on his back and the kids he was dealing with and Lulu's character particularly didn't want to take that chip off, she wanted to learn from him. I don't know what this 13 year old learns from Dan. Maybe she's learned how to take care of a guy who needs someone to take care of him, which really sets her up for an unfortunate job title in her future. We don't know what she dreams about for her future. We have no idea. She sure has not learned much about the civil rights movement in what is shown in the film. He is trying to impress on the kids to expand their minds in a semi Socratic educational style but these kids are sponges and a point of view from a teacher is not actually teaching. I want to know the filmmaker's point in making this film. I'm really curious. That's my two cents.
Weaknesses in the material and delivery are covered by two strong central performances
bob the moo28 November 2007
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.
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