Ryan Gosling teaches youngsters by day, and smokes crack by night, in the drama HALF NELSON. Gosling is Dan Duanne, a junior high school history teacher whose methods in the classroom are questioned by his principal, despite his success with the students. His success in the classroom hasn’t translated to his personal life, as Dan can’t beat his drug addiction. His addiction begins to spill into his work, as Dre, a student of his, catches him in a nearly comatose state following a basketball game.
Dan Duane teaches history unconventionally, explaining that history is a series of changes that occur over a certain period of time. What spurs the change is the minority opinion, group or mindset eventually overtaking the majority. Dan explains this in mainly political terms, but this same struggle is being waged within Dan and his student Dre. The film was written by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, and the two expertly intertwine what Dan teaches into his and Dre’s lives. Gosling, who has shown a knack for playing a wide array of characters, does so again providing a unique individual who is hard to get a grasp on. Shareeka Epps, as Dre, is also terrific creating a character with as much depth as Dan. The two’s relationship is an odd-one, but proves to be mutually enriching, maybe more so for Dan than for Dre. HALF NELSON sounds more controversial than it is. In spite of the excessive drug use, it ends up being an oddly moralistic tale with two terrific performances.
Grade: B
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