Submitted by cinemascope on Sat, 2007-04-21 17:13. :: Cinemascope 5
Movie title:
Half Nelson
Starring:
Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie
Directed by:
Ryan Fleck
Written by:
Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden
Genre:
Drama
Year:
2007
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Runtime:
1 hour 46 minutes
Imdb:
Rating:
Synopsis
An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret.
An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret.
Review
A rare occurence occurred on Cinemascope this week: Stuart and I (hello, I'm Nick) disagreed strongly about his movie. We don't always think alike, but it's rare that one of us hates a movie while another loves it. Half Nelson is that movie, and - sorry Stuart - I loved it, so this review is going to reflect my opinions, rather than both of those aired on the show. You'll have to listen as well to hear our opposing thoughts. Eschewing the cliches of inspirational teacher movies (Dead Poets, Dangerous Minds), Half Nelson uses Hegel's theory of dialectics both as history teacher Dunne (Gosling)'s unorthodox method of teaching his students, but also as a narrative device. Essentially, this boils down to an exploration of how a bad man can be good, and how a good man can be bad, with these two characters - white teacher and crack addict Dunne, and clean-cut black drug dealer Frank, vying to fill the role of father figure to thoughtful teen Drey (Epps). The movie opens with Drey discovering Dunne smoking crack in the girls changing room of the school gym, but instead of this leading to dramatic repercussions, an unlikely alliance is instead formed. Shot in a grainy hand-held style and with an effective soundtrack by Canadian indie band Broken Social Scene, this strong debut from writing/directing/producing double act Fleck and Boden is also blessed with performances of the highest calibre, particularly from the deservedly Oscar-nominated Ryan Gosling as the adrift teacher, and the astounding young talent Shareeka Epps. Based on this excellent debut film, Fleck and Boden are worth keeping an eye on.
A rare occurence occurred on Cinemascope this week: Stuart and I (hello, I'm Nick) disagreed strongly about his movie. We don't always think alike, but it's rare that one of us hates a movie while another loves it. Half Nelson is that movie, and - sorry Stuart - I loved it, so this review is going to reflect my opinions, rather than both of those aired on the show. You'll have to listen as well to hear our opposing thoughts. Eschewing the cliches of inspirational teacher movies (Dead Poets, Dangerous Minds), Half Nelson uses Hegel's theory of dialectics both as history teacher Dunne (Gosling)'s unorthodox method of teaching his students, but also as a narrative device. Essentially, this boils down to an exploration of how a bad man can be good, and how a good man can be bad, with these two characters - white teacher and crack addict Dunne, and clean-cut black drug dealer Frank, vying to fill the role of father figure to thoughtful teen Drey (Epps). The movie opens with Drey discovering Dunne smoking crack in the girls changing room of the school gym, but instead of this leading to dramatic repercussions, an unlikely alliance is instead formed. Shot in a grainy hand-held style and with an effective soundtrack by Canadian indie band Broken Social Scene, this strong debut from writing/directing/producing double act Fleck and Boden is also blessed with performances of the highest calibre, particularly from the deservedly Oscar-nominated Ryan Gosling as the adrift teacher, and the astounding young talent Shareeka Epps. Based on this excellent debut film, Fleck and Boden are worth keeping an eye on.
