Half Nelson - Movie Review
After discovering that her teacher is a drug addict, a student forms an unlikely bond of friendship with the teacher.
Cast - Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie, Monique Gabriela Curnen
Directed By - Ryan Fleck
Genre - Drama
You come across many faces in your daily life when going out for a walk or stroll. Many times you see someone and form an impression about that particular person. If he is smoking then probably you assume him to be a bad guy and someone to stay away from or you may see some other person and categorise him as good simply because of his looks or his walking style. These first impressions may or may not be true, but they form an abstract image of the person in your mind.
In Ryan Fleck's 2006 film Half Nelson, we have Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling), an alcoholic and drug addict teacher who doesn't like to follow the district approved syllabus. He maintains a funny, healthy and cheerful environment with his students who seem to like his class. They know he is a good teacher, and so does Drey (Shareeka Epps), one of his student, and that is why she doesn't register a complaint when she finds him burning a cigarette after a basketball game. In fact, this incident makes them closer resulting in a bond which surpasses the teacher-student relationship. They become friends. "How does it feel when you take it?" she asks him. There is another person named Frank (Anthony Mackie) whose intentions are not so noble. "Stay away from him", says Dan to Drey. There is an understanding and a feeling of concern towards each other.
What makes Half Nelson, written by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, different from other films involving the teacher-student bond is that it doesn't follow the same tropes. It's not about a teacher trying to mentor a class packed with bad students, and it's not centred on a struggling child unable to read the words properly until a rule breaker out-of-place teacher arrives to save the day and the child. As the great Roger Ebert said in his review that this movie is about different people with problems and how every day they overcome them to go to work. Dan is a drug addict who has lost his girlfriend and has troubling relationships with his family. In spite of all this, he gets up in the morning in his white jockeys and pushes himself to go to the school. In fact, many of you who are doing a job may relate to this. Of course, you may not be a drug addict, but everyone has some problems in their life.
So, does all that smoking and inhaling drugs make Dan a bad person? While he does some horrible things, mainly due to the influence of alcohol, he is not a bad person. He is like a big child, as his ex-girlfriend states, who makes mistakes. Human beings always make mistakes. It depends on how you overcome and apologise for them.
Another thing that makes this film so great are its characters - Dan and Drey. Their conversations are real and not dramatic. The drama comes naturally when they discuss each other's personal life. They crack lame jokes, make a dish together while Dan tries to maintain the boundary and Drey does not let any profession come in between there friendship. The last scene where they sit quietly on a couch drinking water is a marvellous scene in itself. Every word ends with silence.
Shareeka Epps is an excellent actress who doesn't let her performance get passed under the radar. She dominates every scene with her stoic expressions that give away so much without overly dramatising things. Ryan Gosling was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor; I don't need to say anything more about his performance. Even Anthony Mackie gave one of his finest performance in the film.
Shot like a documentary, Half Nelson looks real and personal. The camera transports you like a spectator spying on the characters lives as you see them growing from the inside. In the end, the message it tries to deliver is that "Don't judge a book by its cover".
Rating - 4.5/5
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Cast - Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie, Monique Gabriela Curnen
Directed By - Ryan Fleck
Genre - Drama
You come across many faces in your daily life when going out for a walk or stroll. Many times you see someone and form an impression about that particular person. If he is smoking then probably you assume him to be a bad guy and someone to stay away from or you may see some other person and categorise him as good simply because of his looks or his walking style. These first impressions may or may not be true, but they form an abstract image of the person in your mind.
In Ryan Fleck's 2006 film Half Nelson, we have Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling), an alcoholic and drug addict teacher who doesn't like to follow the district approved syllabus. He maintains a funny, healthy and cheerful environment with his students who seem to like his class. They know he is a good teacher, and so does Drey (Shareeka Epps), one of his student, and that is why she doesn't register a complaint when she finds him burning a cigarette after a basketball game. In fact, this incident makes them closer resulting in a bond which surpasses the teacher-student relationship. They become friends. "How does it feel when you take it?" she asks him. There is another person named Frank (Anthony Mackie) whose intentions are not so noble. "Stay away from him", says Dan to Drey. There is an understanding and a feeling of concern towards each other.
What makes Half Nelson, written by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, different from other films involving the teacher-student bond is that it doesn't follow the same tropes. It's not about a teacher trying to mentor a class packed with bad students, and it's not centred on a struggling child unable to read the words properly until a rule breaker out-of-place teacher arrives to save the day and the child. As the great Roger Ebert said in his review that this movie is about different people with problems and how every day they overcome them to go to work. Dan is a drug addict who has lost his girlfriend and has troubling relationships with his family. In spite of all this, he gets up in the morning in his white jockeys and pushes himself to go to the school. In fact, many of you who are doing a job may relate to this. Of course, you may not be a drug addict, but everyone has some problems in their life.
So, does all that smoking and inhaling drugs make Dan a bad person? While he does some horrible things, mainly due to the influence of alcohol, he is not a bad person. He is like a big child, as his ex-girlfriend states, who makes mistakes. Human beings always make mistakes. It depends on how you overcome and apologise for them.
Another thing that makes this film so great are its characters - Dan and Drey. Their conversations are real and not dramatic. The drama comes naturally when they discuss each other's personal life. They crack lame jokes, make a dish together while Dan tries to maintain the boundary and Drey does not let any profession come in between there friendship. The last scene where they sit quietly on a couch drinking water is a marvellous scene in itself. Every word ends with silence.
Shareeka Epps is an excellent actress who doesn't let her performance get passed under the radar. She dominates every scene with her stoic expressions that give away so much without overly dramatising things. Ryan Gosling was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor; I don't need to say anything more about his performance. Even Anthony Mackie gave one of his finest performance in the film.
Shot like a documentary, Half Nelson looks real and personal. The camera transports you like a spectator spying on the characters lives as you see them growing from the inside. In the end, the message it tries to deliver is that "Don't judge a book by its cover".
Rating - 4.5/5
Follow Me On:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/vikas_yadav98
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/vikasy199/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vimovies123/
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