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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Since 1996 |
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Half Nelson Stars: Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie, Monique Gabriela Curnen, and Karen Chilton Director: Ryan Fleck Scriptwriters: Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden Music: Broken Social Scene THINKFilm Running Time: 110 minutes Rated: R A teacher’s influence never really stops. Even though the teacher comes to school with a hangover, smokes pot in a shower room and bumps against authority, there still may be something that communicates with others. Such is the case of Dan Dunne, a middle school teacher, portrayed by Ryan Gosling from “The Notebook.” The script by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden gives Gosling plenty of room to give us a portrait of a man barely on the edge of control, who tries to reach young minds and give them a sort of self-control. We learn at the beginning of the film that Dan is on drugs. He teeters on the brink of controlling it, and manages to make it to school and teach each day. His fellow teachers look at him askance, but his students clearly like him, warts and all. One student in particular, Drey (Shareeka Epps) likes his methods, but when Drey accidentally finds Dan smoking pot, what happens next is unusual. She doesn’t give him away, instead, a friendship forms. We see that Drey is alone a lot, with an absent father, working mother and brother in prison. In Drey’s neighborhood is a drug dealer, Frankie (Anthony Mackie) who feels sorry for her and, in his own way, tries to protect her from the unsavory elements there. As Dan stumbles his way through the school year, Drey will have to make a choice as to which her role model will be, Dan or Frankie? Dan, who is scholarly in his own way, or Frankie who is tough and street-smart. The role of Dan is the kind of role I was hoping Ryan Gosling would sink his teeth into. Here is a guy who is smart enough, but finds it easier to fall into drugs than complete a project. He never quite joins in with adults, but feels at home with his class, and they like him for it. Gosling’s body language speaks volumes with a sideways glance or a slouch at just the right time. His half-answers to questions are baffling, as though he doesn’t know what direction to go at that time. When Dan starts going lower on the self-esteem chart, we feel for him, and the potential that is going to waste. Shareeka Epps’ Drey is street-wise and world-wise beyond her years. Left alone much of the time, she is barely on the straight and narrow path and seems to have made a decision to stay there. Half Nelson is a film that studies individuals and gives a good look at drug use and their availability. We get to know Dan, Drey and Frankie, plus the people who are on the outer fringe of their lives. Frankie thinks nothing of talking kindly to Drey as he casually packs his drug powders for sale. Dan thinks it is appropriate behavior to visit a lady teacher at 2 a.m. and expect a make-out session. One is a drug seller and the other a drug taker and both know they have crossed the line. Copyright 2006 Marie Asner
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