HALF NELSON
**** out of *****

Reviewed by Jarrod Baker

Screening in the 2007 New Zealand International Film Festival
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Genres
Drama

2006
Directed by
Ryan Fleck
Written by
Ryan Fleck and Anna Bowden
Cast
Ryan Gosling - Dan Dunne
Shareeka Epps - Drey

It's not hard to see why Ryan Gosling was Oscar-nominated for his role in Half Nelson. His performance as Dan Dunne, a passionate but drug-addicted history teacher at a Brooklyn junior high school is convincing, compelling and at times thoroughly electric.

The film follows Dunne's relationship with Drey (Shareeka Epps, in an equally revelatory performance), one of his 13 year-old students, after she finds him in a drug-induced stupor – crack pipe in hand – after a basketball game. Sharing a secret, the two become friends, with Dunne becoming increasingly protective of Drey.

The downward spiral of his habit begins to get in the way, however – let alone the obvious effects it begins to have on his classroom performance, he becomes increasingly conflicted upon discovering Drey's connection to a local drug dealer, Frank (Anthony Mackie). A friend of Drey's incarcerated brother, Frank begins to take an interest in Drey, with a view to involving her in dealing. Dunne's requests that Frank stay away from Drey are met with amusement – after all is it really better that she spends time with an addict than with a dealer?

Half Nelson is particularly impressive, coming as it does from a first time feature director. In other hands, this film could easily have been overly preachy and sanctimonious; or worse it could have gone the tearjerker route. Instead, it gently and without histrionics presents a snapshot of Dunne and Drey's lives as they intersect – and as Dunne's life falls apart.

Dark subject matter is handled with levity, while at the same time we're left in no doubt that Dunne's drug abuse leaves him a danger to others as well as to himself. There's no false and miraculous redemption or turnaround here; nor are there contrived "lessons" or a neatly packaged denouement.

It probably helps somewhat that Fleck and his co-writer Anna Boden have effectively attempted this film before, albeit on a smaller scale. The pair's earlier short Gowanus, Brooklyn covered much the same ground, with the same characters – Epps reprises her Gowanus, Brooklyn role in Half Nelson, and the original Mr. Dunne appears in a cameo. Perhaps this could be a model for future first-time directors, as it seems to have paid off extremely well here.

Made with a large budget, a "name" director and expensive stars, Half Nelson could have ended up being a multi-million dollar movie of the week. Instead, in the hands of Fleck, Boden, Gosling and Epps, it's just about perfect, hitting just the right notes throughout.

Highly recommended.

This film will screen in Wellington at The Embassy Theatre on July 26 at 6:15pm and July 30 at 1:00pm.

Please refer to the Film Fest homepage for more information on screenings in other parts of the country

Back to KP's Film Fest Coverage