HALF NELSON

http://www.halfnelsonthefilm.com/
plot : My teacher is a pusher.
thought : Not only in the 'hood.

The motivation to see this film was simple : what's that Ryan Gosling up to ? HALF NELSON garnered the once-NOTEBOOK star an Oscar nomination. I wanted to see why. From the poster, I figured he went into some project neighborhood and changed the lives of a few students, in a DANGEROUS MINDS meets SAVE THE LAST DANCE kind of way.

Sometimes I think I should start reading film synopses before watching the film.

For starters, the film is about a teacher named Dan DUNNE (Gosling) with a heavy drug problem who needs someone to step in and change his life. Gosling plays the part well, though I must admit I'm not quite sure why he got the Oscar nod. (Hollywood star playing a drug addict, does that qualify as acting ?...oh, did I go there ? I went there.) I was surprised, because I only believed him 75% of the time. But then again, when I did believe him, I was truley convinced.

But aside from Gosling--once I figured out the heart of the story, I naturally found it intriguing, because of my own obsession with this subject matter, i.e. the slow descent of an isolated individual under the eyes of a caring society. This happens in many forms : drug use, depression, eating disorders, etc. To see it happen, in this story, to a teacher who actively attempts to serve as a role model about 50% of his day, is very striking. And seeing the relationship this teacher thankfully establishes with one of his students, played by the spot-on young actress Shareeka EPPS (no relation to HOUSE MD's loveable Omar EPPS), renders the story that much more poignant.

Thank goodness for Gosling's Oscar nom, or HALF NELSON may have remained a completely overlooked gem of 2006. Lucky for me, France picked it up off the world market.

NOTE : I was also insanely PSYCHED to bear witness to the wonderful ear-gasm that is this movie's soundtrack. Broken Social Scene from start to finish. Amazing music matched to amazing footage makes for an amazing movie.

Overall rating : 4/5