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Half Nelson
Directed by: Ryan Fleck
Starring: Ryan Gosling
Genre:
Drama/Independent
Run Time: 106
min.
Release Date:
August 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
HALF NELSON is a bit
of a conundrum. It has something fresh at its core and a stellar
performance from lead actor Ryan Gosling (it earned him an Academy
Award nomination for Best Actor last year), but the story is so
loose and vague (especially the ending) that it will drive many watchers
to distraction.
The freshness comes from the fact that this isn’t a story about some
great white hero coming to a downtrodden, black school in order to lift
their educational spirits and thus their chances of breaking out of the
drug ring mold so often affiliated with this genre (see THE PRINCIPAL
or DANGEROUS MINDS as prime examples). This is the story of a
teacher named Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) who’s drug problems spill out of
his personal life and into his professional one. This is noticed one day
by one of his students named Drey (Shareeka Epps), a thirteen-year-old
who’s in Dan’s history class and part of the school’s girls basketball
team, which he coaches.
Dan’s teaching-life begins to show cracks as he rambles off on inane
topics during class and eventually, in a more physical manner, when his
nose starts bleeding spontaneously.
Drey has issues of her own, trying to deal with a brother who’s in
prison (for selling drugs), a mother who works so much that she’s turned
her daughter into a latchkey kid, and the advances of a local drug
runner named Frank (Anthony Mackie, FREEDOMLAND), who wants to
use Drey as one of his delivery folks. All of these things pull at Drey
and we see her struggle to understand why the world around her is so
shitty and how someone she’s looked up to (her teacher) could be a part
of it.
Both Dan and Drey try to save each other in their own way, too. Drey by
waiting for her teacher after school so that she can distract him from
his self-destructive ways, and Dan by confronting Frank and asking him
to leave Drey alone.
Gosling’s performance of a drug-addled and lost soul is spot-on. His win
at the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Actor was well
deserved, as was his Academy Award nomination. Young Shareeka
Epps plays well beside the towering Gosling but wasn’t quite up to his
level.
The big letdown, however, was the loose reins of the story as a whole.
We never witness what happens to Gosling’s character at the school after
a substitute comes to replace him (we might assume that he went into a
recovery program or was fired from his job or both, but we don’t know;
he may also have just quit in order to save his students from his
destructive behavior but, again, we just don’t know).
The ending sequence is interesting if, again, a bit too vague. We’re not
privy to what becomes of Gosling and Epps’ characters. They’re left
sitting on a sofa staring at the camera, making one believe that either
things aren’t going to change or that great changes await them. Which it
is is anyone’s guess.
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Image from Half Nelson
DVD cost: $23.99
Purchase:
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Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
The film's title "Half
Nelson" refers to a wrestling hold in which one arm is passed under the
opponent's arm from behind to the back of the neck.
Movie Quote: "I
cleaned up for the most part. I do it now so I can get by, but I can
handle it."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Half Nelson
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