Half Nelson
Teacher saves/inspires inner city kids is a sub-genre all its own, dating back to, I suppose “To sir, with love.” The formula was commercially perfected as a cross-marketing tool with the hip-hop industry in Michelle Pfeiffer’s “Dangerous Minds” and long ago completely puttered out with re-tread after re-tread including one where they even had Antonio Banderas teaching the kids to dance; ugh! It’s cliché. The kids don’t respond at first, eventually they do, ups and downs, we all learn something about one another, hit song on the soundtrack, somehow the teacher finds a way to identify, and then we all go somewhere and throw up because even though there is tragedy and the inner-city is bad, we have movies about teachers who are saving them.
Then there is “Half Nelson.” The person in the most trouble in “Half Nelson,” a brilliant film by the way, is Dan Dunne. Dan is a junior high school history teacher in an inner-city school. He is also the girl’s basketball coach. He is also a drug addict who smokes crack cocaine. When Drey, one of his students and players, discovers him smoking a bond forms between the two- each trying to help the other while dealing with their own problems. Dan is played by Ryan Gosling, in a performance that is nothing short of astonishing. Shareeka Epps as Drey isn’t far behind, and Anthony Mackie as Frank, a local drug dealer attempting to guide Drey in his own way, rounds out an outstanding lead threesome.
“Half Nelson” is a soulful movie. It is understated and looks and feels like real life. The drama is never manufactured. Dan is a talented teacher. He is intelligent and clearly cares for the children. And there is no arc here to his teaching, he is doing well with them, but will one high school history teacher really solve the socio-economic problems of the ghetto? Sorry Coolio and Michelle Pfeiffer, but it ain’t gonna happen. A few of these kids might make it though.
A bartender recognizes Mr. Dunne and tells him his daughter is attending the university. Dan is so whacked out on drugs he can’t be bothered. What is Mr. Dunne’s problem? He has an original teaching technique, one that he hopes to spread further in an illustrated children’s book he slowly works on. But maybe Dan is too smart for his own good? He is a drug addict, and he says that the kids are the only thing keeping him going. His diatribe about the Iraq war, his identification with black culture, and a trip home for dinner with his parents show us that maybe Dan just feels powerless to change the world. Instead he should be happy with changing it one kid at a time.
But then there is the reality of how difficult changing one kid at a time is. The struggle of Drey, who has no father around, a mother constantly working, and a brother in jail, begins to occupy his time. But really, how much better of a role model is Mr. Dunne than Frankie the drug dealer? Frankie is the only one who comes to her basketball games. He wants her to work for him. We know that this is wrong, but the way that this film is made it makes what is wrong with it much more difficult to identify, especially when Mr. Dunne, high on crack most of the time, is the alternative. Never trust a base head. Dan’s meeting with Frankie the drug dealer is so nuanced, at first surprising, but ultimately so true that it sums up much of the films brilliance in its shades of grey.
Mr. Gosling’s performance needs more attention. He is so real it is scary. He has a glaze over him, whether he is happy, sad, drugged out, or thinking positive. This is real life, so the addict lives with it. He is a teacher who is brilliant in the class room but completely useless outside of it. Look for good things to come from Mr. Gosling as he astonishes here at a level so high that I choose to abstain from hyperbole, but I will say this; one reviewer compared him to a young Brando and I will neither confirm nor dismiss that this is a reasonable comparison, and just the refusal to dismiss a comparison to a young Brando is a thing in itself.
Story: A Inner-city teacher smokes crack, struggles for his soul and that of a young student.
Acting: B Everyone is fantastic, the kids are I believe all real students at the school; Mr. Gosling earned his Oscar nod. A
Visuals: Raw and true.
Originality/Innovation:B+ This film never missteps.
Enjoyability Grade: A Well, do we enjoy their pain? Well, we do enjoy spectacular filmmaking, acting, writing, etc.
Overall Grade: A Simply a fantastic film that touches on so much. Go watch it!
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