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Half Nelson

4 stars out of 5.0
Half Nelson: Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling's Dan Dunne is the most inspirational teacher I've seen at the movies since Jack Black in School Of Rock. Or at any rate, the most credible.

Sure, he splits from the History curriculum to teach dialectics to his class of Angelino eighth graders. Yes, he illustrates his theorem by arm-wrestling the students. But what really sets Mr Dunne apart isn't his unconventional style. It's his manic-depressive streak and raging cocaine habit - both directly attributable to his liberal-leftist despair, but not qualities normally associated with this kind of flick. (Imagine Michelle Pfeiffer snorting her way through Dangerous Minds.)

The title comes from the wrestling hold, and is meant to suggest an uncomfortable position you can't easily wriggle out from under. It's to the credit of filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (she co-wrote and produced, he co-wrote and directed) that it could refer to Dunne's drug dependency, to his frustrations concerning his profession, and to socio-political conditions that suck his students into a life of crime - all of which are of course related. Again, not many movies make that leap.

Half Nelson: Ryan Gosling

Dunne's story runs parallel with Drey's (Shareeka Epps), a pupil who finds him doing crack in the girls' loos after school. She's shocked, but only up to a point. Her older brother is in prison for dealing. She never thinks of reporting him - his unconventional style connects with his class, and they respect him for it - and the two of them establish an odd, private, but obviously inappropriate friendship.

Dan figures he should be doing something to save this girl from her brother's fate, but he's a hopelessly flawed hero, and he knows it. When he confronts the local supplier, Frank (Anthony Mackie), he winds up out of his skull again. It is typical of the movie's impatience with stereotypes that Mackie plays Frank with charm and forebearance, while Dunne is often a bastard, no two ways about it.

Half Nelson

Gosling's stunning performance was Oscar-nominated for Best Actor earlier this year, despite the fact Half Nelson made no commercial inroads in the US (less than $3 million). But credit the filmmakers too, because there isn't a weak link in the chain. Shot in a documentary style, 'on the fly', with quick zooms and jerky frame adjustments, the film makes a virtue of its own limited resources. It rings so true you have to stop yourself from getting up and moving on to the next class when the bell goes.

The kids are cast to act their age, the other teachers are all spot on (if arguably a bit too true to type) and Epps gives a subtle, watchful portrait of an intelligent 13-year-old feeling her way into the adult world. In the end, she's her teacher's best hope of rescue, not the other way around.

Mandatory viewing. Nuff said.

Tom Charity

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