Ryan Gosling earns an Oscar nomination for his turn as an inner city teacher who has troubles of his own as well as looking out for one of his students that has found out his secret.
Mr. Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is a teacher in an inner city school who seems to be an inspiration to his room full of history students. Appearances can be deceiving though as Drey (Shareeka Epps), one of his students, finds out one night after a basketball game that Mr. Dunne has coached. She finds him on the floor of one of the stalls in the girl’s locker room with his crack pipe. Mr. Dunne is also a crackhead.
Mr Dunne
Drey and Mr. Dunne form a tenuous friendship over the course of the film. Mr. Dunne has some competition from Frank (Anthony Mackie), the local drug dealer, who has some allegiance to Drey’s family since her brother is in prison for being one of Frank’s runner. Frank has eyes on Drey to take her brother’s place in his crew. Now Mr. Dunne is torn does he try and be a tarnished authority figure or offend his drug dealer?
I have not watched all of the nominees for best actor, but odds are that Ryan Gosling will not be walking away with the gold that evening (Forrest Whitaker probably will, but Peter O’Toole is a sentimental favorite). I suppose that it could be possible, so place your money on your favorite ladies and gents.
Gosling does a marvelous job as the teacher who has to battle his demons. Usually in these type of films, the teacher is a white knight saving the heroine from the villainous blackheart. In this movie the knight is more shades of gray. He finds that he has to waver between actually trying to make a difference in Drey’s life or just leaving her alone since she knows his secret. To all outward signs, Mr. Dunne is a much loved history teacher. Half nelson refers to the wrestling move of a person being caught in an uncomfortable position and trying to get out of it. That’s just what Mr. Dunne is caught in. He wants to help Drey but doesn’t know if he can since he’s damaged goods himself.
Shareeka Epps is also very good as Drey who has to make up her mind if she wants to follow in her brother’s footsteps or try and stay out of trouble. Drey also has to make the hard decisions as to who she’s going to follow, Frank or Mr. Dunne. Anthony Mackie is also very good as the friendly neighborhood drug dealer. He’s almost the “hooker with the heart of gold” character since he seems like such a likeable fellow. He almost seems to have Drey’s best interests at heart, but since he only knows the drug dealer’s life then that’s how he knows to help her, but it’s not exactly the life that has the best results.
Dunne hits rock bottom
Half Nelson is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary by writer/director Ryan Fleck and writer/producer Anna Boden. There’s also 6 minutes of outtakes, 3 minutes of deleted scenes, and around 4 minutes of extended scenes. The 3 minute Rhymefest “Wanted” music video rounds out the special features.
He may not walk away with the gold on Oscar night (though I guess we’ll see), but Ryan Gosling provides a fine performance as a man battling his demons. He’s given excellent support by Epps and Mackie. It is definitely a film that you’ll want to check out for the excellent performances.
Half Nelson is now available at Amazon .It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a Sept. 24th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
Jeff SwindollFeb 12th, 2007 - 17:08:49
It aspect ratio is actually 1.78:1, mea culpa. When the image fills up my screen I usually think it's 1.85:1, but I glanced at the back of the case this morning and realized my mistake. I'll give you your .7:1 back if you want ;).
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