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Ryan Gosling is quickly earning a reputation for playing characters with seemingly good hearts, but with deep flaws that prohibit his characters from achieving greatness. Whether it be his quick Ryan Gosling is quickly earning a reputation for playing characters with seemingly good hearts but with deep flaws that prohibit these characters from achieving greatness. Whether it be his quick temper, drinking, or lack of ambition in\u00a0Blue Valentine<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>his unbelievably extreme case of social anxiety in\u00a0Lars and the Real Girl<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0or his much too overly confident posture in\u00a0Fracture<\/em>, Gosling plays characters that you root for at one moment and sympathize with the next. At the same time, you are trying to figure out how he gets so entrenched in each of his roles. If you have not seen any of the movies mentioned above, do so. You’ll be in for a treat. If you want to see his best performance to date, check out Ryan Fleck’s (Sugar, It’s Kind of a Funny Story<\/em>) highly under-appreciated\u00a0Half Nelson<\/em>. Now, I say highly under-appreciated loosely.\u00a0Half Nelson<\/em> has received a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a> but only $2.6 million at the box office, a somewhat disappointing number.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Before I get into the review of\u00a0Half Nelson,<\/em>\u00a0I want to talk about Gosling. For many readers, you might only have seen him on the big screen once (when he played Noah in the adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks book\u00a0The Notebook<\/em>). Hopefully, his performance in that film at least got you curious about other movies he has done. At 30 years old, he has over a handful of\u00a0A-quality\u00a0performances. In almost all of them, he was the main actor in the movie, or he split the time equally with one other co-star (Rachel McAdams in\u00a0The Notebook<\/em>, Michelle Williams in\u00a0Blue Valentine<\/em><\/a>, Anthony Hopkins in\u00a0Fracture<\/em>). I am failing even to mention two other movies (All Good Things<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0The Believer<\/em>) that, in my opinion, weren’t great films but were worth the price of admission to see Gosling.<\/p>\n To say I am a fan of Ryan Gosling would be an understatement. And what many film junkies already know and what is slowly being discovered by moviegoers across the world is that he is the next big thing. This statement could be said about other 30ish-year-old actors (including Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and James Franco), but if I could only pick one to shine above the others, I’d pick Gosling. Except for Gordon-Levitt, all have earned Best Leader Actor\/Actress roles.<\/p>\n In\u00a0Half Nelson<\/em>, Gosling stars as Dan Dunne, an inner-city junior-high social studies teacher, and a girls’ basketball team coach. He’s passionate about his job and as a repertoire with all of the kids in his classroom. They love him as a teacher. He has that natural ability to take the content of the course and make it meaningful to his students. Unfortunately, he doesn’t use the curriculum guide when he teaches, a practice his principal has frowned upon. Dan understands that if he goes by the strict course regiment, unit for unit, lesson for lesson, and word for word, he will lose his personal connection with his students. He will bore them in the process and won’t be able to get through to them in the way that has made him a successful and respected teacher. He is idealistic. He is inspiring. And after a day in the classroom, he can bring that same energy to an afternoon of basketball practice\/game. Unfortunately, this life isn’t enough for Dan.<\/p>\n It is what he does once he leaves the school that has his life in a wreck. He has a side to him that he tries to hide from the rest of the world. He is addicted to a wild nightlife that involves a daily habit of smoking crack. His nightlife is wreaking havoc on his day job. We are fortunate to see this movie play out over a few weeks. This allows us to see Dan starting many of his daily lessons. Sometimes, he has that energy from the get-go. At other times, it is clear that school is the last place that he wants to be. On certain days, he lacks the patience he might have on others. One day, he wears sunglasses to class to hide his eyes. The impact of Dan’s deep drug addiction on his job, family, well-being, and personal relationships is the underlying theme in the movie.<\/p>\n That alone could have been enough for a successful movie. But Fleck took the film further by involving one of Dan’s students. Shareeka Epps’ breakthrough performance as Drey is as much a key to the powerful message this movie brings as is Gosling’s. Drey is a student in his class and a player on his basketball team. While we get to know a few of Dan’s students, Drey is the movie’s “other star.” Drey has the perfect blend of inner-city toughness with a killer smile that can light up an entire room. Dan and Drey have a great relationship, but their trust and care for one another reach a level no student or teacher should ever have when she catches him smoking crack in a locker room bathroom stall. At that moment, all his problems become hers, and all of hers become his. The bond they soon share is something neither of them was looking for, but once it’s there, it becomes essential.<\/p>\n Everything I’ve mentioned here occurs in the first 30 minutes or so. There are other layers to this movie, too, which I won’t discuss here. This is a powerful movie for those dealing with any drug addiction. It’s a good movie to watch if you teach middle school or higher. And it’s a good movie if you want to see a slower-paced drama with powerful lead character performances.<\/p>\n Another thing that is great about this movie is the use of what appears to be a single hand-held camera. There are no artsy angles. It’s a camera that is right in the face of the actor or the same camera held back slightly farther away. In this regard, parts of this movie might feel like a documentary. A documentary this is not, though. This is deep stuff. Be prepared to sit on your couch and ponder the 104 minutes you just experienced.<\/p>\n Plot 8\/10 Ryan Gosling is quickly earning a reputation for playing characters with seemingly good hearts, but with deep flaws that prohibit his characters from achieving greatness. Whether it be his quick Ryan Gosling is quickly earning a reputation for playing characters with seemingly good hearts but with deep flaws that prohibit these characters from achieving greatness. … Continue reading Half Nelson (2006)<\/span>
\nCharacter Development 8.5\/10
\nCharacter Chemistry 8.5\/10
\nActing 9.5\/10
\nScreenplay 8.5\/10
\nDirecting 9\/10
\nCinematography 9\/10
\nSound 7\/10
\nHook and Reel 8\/10
\nUniversal Relevance 8\/10
\n84%<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"