'Half Nelson' is a full success
by John DeFore
Plenty of gritty-looking movies — some good, others bundles of cliché — have been made about teachers who take a stand. Finding themselves in schools forsaken by society, where students are lost causes, they rise to the occasion and tough-love the kids into success and self-esteem. "Half Nelson" is not like those movies. In its political stance, its attitude toward race and its desire to create characters who are more than functionaries in an inspirational equation, it stakes out artistic ground while ensuring that it won't become any sort of mainstream hit.
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An inner-city junior high school teacher teaches his students how change works — on both a historical and personal scale — and how to think for themselves. When his troubled students learns that the teacher has a drug habit, they form an unlikely friendship that brings each to an important turning point in their lives.
ThinkFilm
'Half Nelson'
Director: Ryan Fleck
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Shareeka Epps, Deborah Rush, Jay O. Sanders
Run time: 107 minutes
Release date: August 11, 2006
Rating: Rated R for drug content throughout, language and some sexuality.
On the web
Official movie site
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A-
"This is art that can frustrate many moviegoers, but certainly will enthrall others."
Austin American-Statesman: 4 of 5 stars
"(Director Ryan) Fleck ... touches lightly on conflicts instead of hammering them home. While there are plenty of morals to be found in the story, he doesn't dictate how viewers should interpret them."
The Palm Beach Post: B+
"... a hard movie to shake off, with its gritty look into the urban world and into the soul of its characters."
The Associated Press: B+
"... bracing realism that keeps the film raw and grounded."
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