Half Nelson (2006)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 106 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Ryan Fleck
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps and Anthony Mackie
IMDb score:
7,1 (95.049)
Releasedate: 11 August 2006
Half Nelson plot
"Secrets don't let go"
History teacher Daniel Dunne works in a poor, black neighborhood in Brooklyn. One day, Drey, one of his students, catches her teacher smoking crack in the toilet. As it turns out, Daniel has been struggling for quite some time with a drug addiction that is increasingly demanding of him. Drey feels sorry for him and the two develop a special friendship.
Actors and actresses
Dan Dunne
Drey
Frank
Roodly
Isabel
Rachel
Terrance
Stacy
Gina
Jamal
Reviews & comments
Madecineman (moderator films)
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- 7484 messages
- 1715 votes
Well... Some mixed feelings about Half Nelson.
Would like to see a contemporary American Indie film that is a bit rawer and more melancholy than the usually rather sluggish atmosphere that is usually put away in it.
The subject of a white teacher at a black school in Brooklyn certainly offers the opportunity to give a more realistic insight into the lower echelons of American society. It could have been a theme from a Spike Lee movie, but the latter always gives its main characters a motivation and I missed that enormously here.
The film is mainly emptiness, underdog already talked about self-pity, but that's not quite it. I just missed the motivation why that guy should be so unhappy... He has parents who care about him, he's studied, he has a nice face and is not bad with the ladies, he seems to like his job too nice... So, why!?! Too bad, I can't do much with such a character and that feeling of wallowing in self-pity came to me very strongly.
Furthermore, Goseling acts quite decently and convincingly, although he occasionally has his mannerisms a bit too transparent. Epp's performance was also well taken care of, so that's really not the issue.
Visually, the film is not really remarkable. The chosen locations are excellent, I think it could have been shot anywhere in any (medium) large city in the US. I didn't find out until the credits that the movie was set in Brooklyn. The camera work could have been a little less nervous.
All in all, not bad but not as good as it could have been.
3*
Translated from Dutch · View original
BBarbie
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- 12893 messages
- 7675 votes
Annoying story with regularly annoying camera work, so that you occasionally do not see what is actually shown at that moment. It often happens that the camera is close to people (eg in Dardenne's films), but not as annoying as in this case. On the other hand, the three main characters act very nicely and thus raise the score somewhat.
Translated from Dutch · View original
IH88
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- 9727 messages
- 3182 votes
“Second chances are rare, man. You ought to take better advantage of them.”
Subdued drama. With an excellent acting performance by Gosling as a history teacher with a drug addiction. The great thing about Half Nelson is that no character is black and white.
The history teacher with a drug addiction, the drug dealer who is concerned with his niece, the little present mother who is a policewoman, etc. All highly developed characters with recognizable problems. The interplay between Gosling and the young actress Epps is at the heart of the film and they both do a great job.
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