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15/9/2008
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Half Nelson (2007)
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Dan Dunne works in an inner-city junior high school. He’s a good teacher, his pupils like and respect him, and he coaches the girls’ basket ball team. He’s also a drug addict. One evening after a match, one of his pupils, Drey, finds Dan strung out in the girls’ toilets, eyes glazed, clinging to a crack pipe. Drey decides not to tell anyone and their secret forms an unlikely bond between them; a tentative but complicated friendship develops. While Dan tries to keep her from falling into the same life that put her brother in prison – delivering drugs for neighbourhood dealer Frank – he’s also keenly aware that, as a sometime customer of Frank’s, he’s in no position to preach.
The white teacher inspiring underprivileged black kids in a tough area has been done many times, as has the junkie drama, so a combination of the two doesn’t sound too promising. However, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s excellent script and subtle performances from the whole cast ensure that the film’s themes are dealt with sensitively and intelligently, and prevent things from straying into melodrama or cliché.
Dan is an intelligent but deeply unhappy man who finds purpose in teaching and escape in drugs, and who discovers a kind-of soulmate in Drey. Ryan Gosling, a talented and versatile actor, was Oscar-nominated for the role, and the praise is well-deserved; if you want to give Dan a slap and tell him to sort himself out, it’s because Gosling invests him with so much heart and humour that you really care about the character, despite his unsavoury habit. As Drey, Shareeka Epps displays an astonishing maturity, matching Gosling every step of the way.
The dialogue is quite sparse in many of the most important and moving scenes (both actors can say all they need to with a look) because the low key script understands that in real life people don’t talk in sound bites, or reach a happy ending easily or even at all. Ryan Fleck’s direction is as restrained as the script and the performances; his camera lingers when it needs to but never when it’s unnecessary for the characters or story. Half Nelson is a slow-paced film precisely because its protagonist is going nowhere fast, but it’s always interesting, engaging and thought-provoking, and has moments of real humour. It may not be a thrill ride or a laugh-a-minute, but in the days – weeks, even – after watching it, you realise just how special it is.
Review by Catherine Leopold
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