Details
Movie Description
High school teacher Dan (Ryan Gosling) and quiet teenager Drey (Shareeka Epps) are two lonely souls who wander the planet looking to attach some semblance of meaning to their chaotic lives. Dan teaches Drey in a dilapidated school in Brooklyn, New York. Their relationship is unremarkable until Drey discovers Dan collapsed and clutching a crack pipe in a grimy toilet cubicle in the high school gym. It is from this pivotal moment that director Ryan Fleck builds a tentative friendship between these two unlikely allies, creating one of 2006's most arresting films in the process.
Carefully steering his film away from any overtly sentimental material, Fleck and co-writer Anna Boden create a gritty, powerful narrative that feels painfully real as it flickers into life. Very little back-story to either of Fleck and Boden's central protagonists is revealed, forcing the audience to draw its own conclusions as to what personal hells Dan or Drey may have emerged from. Dan's addiction steadily worsens as the movie progresses, and Gosling portrays his drug-addled life in the saddest way possible. Dan is a likeable character with a clear affection for the kids he teaches, and it's distressing to watch him losing his grip on reality. Relief comes only intermittently as Drey's presence in Dan's life momentarily pulls him out of his slumber, while some well-timed jokes sprinkled liberally throughout the dialogue, and a few direct-to-camera monologues from Dan's students, prevent HALF NELSON from completely toppling into the abyss. Supporting roles come in the shape of Dan's ex-girlfriend Rachel (SIX FEET UNDER's Tina Holmes), who hints at a joint addiction they once endured, and Frank (Anthony Mackie), a local drug dealer and acquaintance of Drey's incarcerated brother who tries to care for her. Together the cast, crew, and writing team construct a powerful film about loneliness, addiction, and friendship that is likely to etch itself deeply into the memories of anyone who sees it. In particular, Gosling and newcomer Epps are sensational in their parts, giving career-defining performances that very few actors could ever hope to improve upon.
Industry Reviews
"HALF NELSON offers an opportunity to marvel, once again, at the dazzling talent of Ryan Gosling for playing young men as believable as they are psychologically trip-wired." -- Grade: A
Entertainment Weekly - Lisa Schwarzbaum (08/18/2006)
Included in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 10 Films Of The Year" -- "[A] sad/hopeful, hauntingly open-ended study in the rise and fall of middle-class social idealism."
Entertainment Weekly - Lisa Schwarzbaum (12/29/2006)
Ranked #7 in Film Comment's "20 Best Films Of 2006."
Film Comment - Film Comment Staff (01/01/2007)
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "[T]he movie skillfully avoids sentimental traps to become one of last year's significant sleepers."
USA Today - Mike Clark (02/16/2007)
5 stars out of 5 -- "[A] masterclass in screen acting....The kind of story that steals into your bones and echoes long after the lights come up..."
Total Film - Andy Lowe (05/01/2007)
"[T]he newcomer Shareeka Epps displays a poise and stillness as Drey that make possible Gosling's more free-falling moments."
Sight and Sound - Ryan Gilbey (04/01/2007)
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