ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies

THE TIRED old cliches of the inspirational teacher/pupil relationship are refreshingly reinvented in ‘Half Nelson’. This is not the kind of formula fare like ‘Dangerous Minds’ or ‘Coach Carter’ that encourages you to cheer the triumph of the underdog.

Instead, it offers a haunting snapshot of the unlikely friendship that develops between two wary, complex individuals.

Exceptional performances from an Oscar-nominated Ryan Gosling and a quietly impressive Shareeka Epps lend this film a raw integrity reminiscent of the films of John Cassavetes and the great flourishing of American cinema in the 1970s.

A charismatic Gosling plays unconventional Brooklyn history teacher Danny Dunn. He is more like a cool older brother than a stuffy figure of authority.

Teaching is the one constant in a life marked by his fondness for chemically-induced oblivion. He convinces himself that his habit is under control, but one night 13 year-old pupil Dre (Shareeka Epps) catches him taking drugs in the school changing rooms.

It is the beginning of a seemingly inappropriate but touching friendship that unfolds as Danny’s self-destructive impulses intensify and Dre is confronted by her own moral dilemmas.

Told in a gritty style, ‘Half Nelson’ is a film that never judges the characters but merely tries to make us understand their lives.

Director Ryan Fleck favours the intimacy of extreme close-ups and handheld camerawork. He secures beautifully nuanced performances from the cast and builds towards the kind of understated ending that has more in keeping with real life than a typical Hollywood impulse to offer resolution and reassurance.

Selected nationwide release

Director: Ryan Fleck
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie, Jeff Line, Nathan
Corbett, Tyra Kwao-Vovo.
Screenwriters: Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden
Certificate: 15
Running time: 107 mins
Country: USA
Year: 2006

© Allan Hunter, 2007