Half Nelson: A Review (Review #1970)

HALF NELSON

It seems an inevitable part of being a teacher, that of students being shocked that the women and men that they see only in the classroom have lives, sometimes quite debauched, beyond the chalkboard. Half Nelson tells one such story, where teacher and student switch roles with each other. With strong performances throughout, Half Nelson is less cautionary tale and more portrait of those struggling between their ideal and true selves. 

Daniel Dunne (Ryan Gosling) wants to inspire his young students to think of history as more than people, places and dates. He stands out in his inner-city Brooklyn school as the rare young white man in a predominantly black area. When he is not teaching or coaching the girls' basketball team, he is either hitting the bars or smoking crack. After his ex-girlfriend and recovering addict Rachel (Tina Holmes) shows up, he hits the coke in the girls' restroom. He is so out of it that he seems rather unaffected that one of his students has come upon him in his sorry state.

That student is Drey (Shareeka Epps). She is no stranger to the drug trade, her beloved brother Mike (Collins Pennie) doing time for selling drugs for local kingpin Frank (Anthony Mackie). Frank, minus the drug running, is not a bad man, going so far as to provide for Drey and her mother as a thank you for Mike taking the fall for Frank. Drey, who likes both Dunne and Frank, now feels the push and pull from both of them.

Despite his addiction, Dan wants Drey to stay clear of Frank. For his part, Frank wants Drey to help him sell drugs. Eventually, Dan's life spins close to unmanageable, causing him to start crumbling. While the Dunne family, with whom Dan is distant from, seem unaware of his condition, Drey and Dan's fellow coworkers know something is amiss. Eventually, the tangled lives of Dan, Drey and Frank connect through the matter of supply and demand. However, there is still some hope for Dan and Drey, that they might escape their own troubles and help the other out.

Half Nelson is no To Sir, With Love.  Told in a straightforward, non-flashy style by director and co-writer Ryan Fleck (writing with Anna Boden), Half Nelson takes a unique twist on the "inspirational teacher" trope to show a flawed, troubled man behind the casual veneer. Daniel Dunne does care about his students and is committed to social change. At one point, he agrees with his students that he, as a white man, is part of the machine but opposed to a lot of the machine. He, however, is actually part of the problem not due to what I suspect in the future would be called "white privilege". Rather, it is because his addiction is in a way responsible for Frank's business, Mike's imprisonment and Drey potentially entering this dark world.

Dan may be an idealist (or a Communist, which Drey suspects due to the books in Dan's apartment). He is also an addict who rationalizes his issues. There is a good moment when Rachel and Dan are at the park, talking about their pasts. Rachel has dealt with her past addiction. Dan won't. It is not that he cannot deal with them. It is that he does not see the problem. Denial can be a harder drug than cocaine.

For her part, Drey does see that Mr. Dunne is a good man, but so is Frank. He stands by her as she forces a bully to return her bike to him. In some ways, Frank and Dan are playing father figures to Drey. That one is a pusher, and the other is an addict does not bode well for Drey's future. It does, however, show Frank and Dan to be more than their business and addiction.

Half Nelson earned Ryan Gosling his first Oscar nomination at the age of twenty-six, one of the youngest men to have done so. He is exceptional in the role. You see the haunted man who wants to be a good man. That split between his ideal and true self comes across often. Gosling lets his eyes do a great deal of the acting. He looks lost, fearful, and sometimes angry. Generally gentle as he goes Looking for Mrs. Goodbar, the few times that Dunne becomes angry are still not rage-filled moments. At one point, he becomes angry at a basketball referee, down to throwing a ball at him. Even here though, it is not intense but calm mixed with a tension and edge.

This is a very controlled performance, but in a good way. In his struggle, Gosling makes Daniel Dunne a deeply flawed man who can still find his way out. He can be a bit sanctimonious, but he is also very troubled. Near the end of the film, Drey and Daniel see each other at his most vulnerable. Gosling does not show Dunne as shocked, or upset, or ashamed. Instead, he gives her a look of almost quiet resignation and acceptance of his situation. It is a deeply moving performance.

He is matched by Shareeka Epps as Drey. She is a smart girl who looks on Daniel not as the cool teacher, but as a good man who does a bad thing. Her relationship with both Frank and Mike give her a better perspective. She knows the suppliers of the drug trade. Now she sees the customers. It is her evolution and realization of what this world is that makes Half Nelson a stronger film than if it were just about Daniel Dunne. 

Anthony Mackie has charm and even wisdom as Frank. Never downplaying the reality of his business, Mackie still makes a case that Frank has some good intentions when it comes to both Mike and Drey. We don't see Frank as evil. He is just working in a business that is illegal and harmful.

Half Nelson is a well-acted and written film. It shows that those who teach have sometimes deeply troubled, secret lives. Teachers are just as much in need of learning as their students. 

DECISION: B+