Half Nelson Movie Review

So I think this is technically cheating since I wrote this review last week for my college newspaper, but whatever I'm too lazy to write anything new, but I wanted to make sure I didn't neglect my blog. Also everyone should see this movie because I think the world needs to see Ryan Gosling in something other than The Notebook, which I actually decided I liked, who knew?

In 2001’s The Believer Ryan Gosling gave a breakthrough performance as an Orthodox Jewish man who becomes a neo nazi. The film was acclaimed for the way in which it dealt with a difficult subject matter and more importantly for the exciting performance by its star. It was in 2006’s The Notebook that made him widely recognizable to the public and although the film was not a critical success it did allow its star to be choosy about his film roles, case in point, he gave another critically acclaimed performance in 2007’s Lars and the Real Girl which firmly established him as one of the most interesting actors of his generation. The movie that earned Ryan Gosling his first Academy Award nomination and cemented his status as a critics favorite was 2006’s Half Nelson about a young man who is a history teacher by day and a drug addict by night.
The film Half Nelson and the performance given by Ryan Gosling are nothing short of remarkable; Mr. Gosling takes what could have been—in the hands of a lesser actor—an overacted, showy performance, and transforms it into a harrowing, realistic portrait of a man struggling to live two lives. His character, Dan Dunne, teaches at an inner-city school where the majority of the students are African-American; we see him interact with the students in a way that shows he cares about them. Not only does he talk to them in a relatable and realistic manner, he also takes time to coach basketball after school. The first turning point of the movie comes one night after a game. Dan is in the locker room smoking crack when one of his students, Drey (Shareeka Epps), discovers his addiction. Upon this discovery, Drey helps him to his car and he gives her a ride home. This event begins a bizarre kind of friendship. As the film continues we see Dan deteriorate and sink deeper into the drudges of addiction; we also see that Drey's life has been negatively affected by drugs and wishes to help her unfortunate teacher recover and begin to live without the hindrance of drugs.
There are many different directions this movie could have gone, Half Nelson is not a sweet feel-good movie, but an honest portrayal of a drug addict’s life. This portrayal is ultimately more satisfying, for it allows the viewers to come to their own conclusions about the direction Dan’s life will take. This movie could have gone in a direction that would have sweetened its ending by showing Dan recovering and going to counseling, but instead it offers viewers an untidy ending that is ultimately more satisfying and one that leaves viewers to come to their own conclusion about what direction Dan’s life will take. The ending is made more poignant because films like this that end in untidy endings are often the ones that we get more of a message out of because they make us think about what we’ve just seen; it doesn’t just slap a message in our faces, we have to dig for it.
The movie, directed by Ryan Fleck, has a raw artistic honesty to it that is a rare but refreshing change from the overproduced blockbusters seen in theaters. This is a remarkable movie that is made even more noteworthy by its star who from a rub of his bloodshot eye, to a playful smile, offers us an interesting character that he seems to inhabit, as though he isn’t actually acting.