Half Nelson
by Ryan Fleck
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jeff Lima, Nathan Corbett, Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Tyra Kwao-VovoDirector: Ryan Fleck
Brand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-02-13
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures
Movie Reviews of Half Nelson
Movie Review: Tedious
Summary: 1 Stars
Ryan Gosling's a great actor who can tackle the quirky and dark stuff ... but after about five minutes of pouty/moody, self-defeating, drug-addled pointlessness and pseudo ghetto talk from a "teacher" who's planted himself in exactly the wrong place, this flick grows most annoying. When he starts with the "holla back" and such to his young charges, it's galling. This main character seeks the lowest (un)common denominator and wallows in it. Surely, it will appeal to all those types who revel in uninformed fantasies of "conquering" inner-city demons and performing some misguided sense of social charity. The teachers I know in the situations Mr. Gosling portrays can't wait to get the hell out of such schools; for in the real world, as Hollywood repeatedly fails to understand and portray, there's no silver lining there, no appreciation nor reward for such "chivalry."
Summary of Half Nelson
Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is a young inner-city junior high school teacher whose ideals wither and die in the face of reality. Day after day in his shabby Brooklyn classroom he somehow finds the energy to inspire his 13 and 14-year-olds to examine everything from civil rights to the Civil War with a new enthusiasm. Rejecting the standard curriculum in favor of an edgier approach Dan teaches his students how change works ' on both a historical and personal scale ' and how to think for themselves.Though Dan is brilliant dynamic and in control in the classroom he spends his time outside school on the edge of consciousness. His disappointments and disillusionment have led to a serious drug habit. He juggles his hangovers and his homework keeping his lives separated until one of his troubled students Drey (Shareeka Epps) catches him getting high after school.From this awkward beginning Dan and Drey stumble into an unexpected friendship. Despite the differences in their ages and situations they are both at an important intersection. Depending on which way they turn ' and which choices they make ' their lives will change.System Requirements:Run Time: 107 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre:?DRAMA Rating:?R UPC:?043396178595 Manufacturer No:?17859
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Sometimes people are attracted to each other because of their differences. When there's a nebulous attraction between a teacher and a young teenage child--as in the superb Half Nelson--the relationship has all the makings of confused disaster. Though there are a few uncomfortable moments when it's not obvious whether Dan (Ryan Gosling) and Drey (Shareeka Epps) might cross the line, the attraction between the pair is culled less from sexual tension than desperation. Dan is an idealistic history teacher in an inner-city school. Drey is one of his brightest students. For both, drugs represent something that may help them escape their worlds. He takes drugs to dull his dissatisfaction with himself. She views drugs as a possible way to better her life, even though she knows her brother's foray into that trade landed him in jail. Bleakly filmed and well told, Half Nelson soars because of the immaculate acting by Gosling and Epps. With his impish smile, Gosling provides a character that is at once disarming, alluring, and pitiful. As the young girl who's already seen too much hardship in her life, Epps plays her part with just the right amount of hardened raw emotion. While the ambiguous ending may not please fans weaned on happy Hollywood finales, it's a fitting and believable close to a thought-provoking film. --Jae-Ha Kim
Stills from Half Nelson (click for larger image)
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Beyond Half Nelson at Amazon.com
 The Films of Ryan Gosling |  More Oscar Nominated Roles at the Amazon.com Oscar Store |  The Soundtrack |
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