DVD Review: Half Nelson

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DVD Review: Half Nelson (Ryan Fleck, 2oo6, USA).

The issue of drug abuse has been one which has propelled stories for centuries. Literature, art, music and film have all addressed the issue in myriad different ways. Inner cities are one of the more commonly used locations for such tales and indeed some films have dealt with drug abuse in schools. These films have painbted the students as the users who have to find a way out of this before it engulfs them in adult life. Half Nelson skews this scenario.
David Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is a history teacher in an inner-city high school. As the film starts, we see that he is the type of teacher we have seen in many inspirational tales gone past. He talks to the students not as students but as people of his level, he engages the students, they seem actually interested. Not only does he teach History, he also coaches basketball. After a game and a freak encounter with an ex we see that he is not the model teacher we would think he is, he is balancing his life with a crack addicition. After he passes out in the changing rooms and is helped by a student (Sharkia Epps), Dunne starts on a journey of self-destruction where he realises taht he may not be able to save this student from the life she starts on the path down.
After hearing about this film, a pick-up from Sundance last year, on the excellent podcast Filmspotting (www.filmspotting.net), I was intrigued. After hearing that Ryan Gosling had earned an Oscar nomination, I did something I am not prone to do, I blind bought it from a region 1 DVD selling website. I have not heard that this film has been picked up for distribution over here in the UK so I felt compelled to buy it. Considering some of the stuff that does get picked up by the independent distibutors over here, this is a crying shame. This film is exceptional. Not once does the film feel like it is trying to teach you an important moral lesson, it does not try to preach to you at all. It never even truly paints drug dealers to be bad people. A case in point is that you never find out what Frank (Anthony Mackie) the drug dealer did which resulted in the student's brother being sent to prison. Whereas other films would use this as a way of making us hate this character but it does not, he represents and alternate choice who the student could use as a mentor. What happens truly feels organic and this is down to the writing, the direction and the performances, all of which are first rate. Fleck excels in every way he can, and presents himself as a truly promising filmmaker to watch out for. Gosling also cements his place as one of this generations finest young actors. His perfomance is cocky but at the same time tragic. He believes he can change this girl's life but his actions throughout the film show that he just cannot help himself. The drug addiction has created a man who cannot do much with any intergrity. One moment late in the film is truly heartbreaking (You will know when you see it. Not if, when you see it). His face paints a picture words cannot and he truly present s what the character is going through fully.
A fucking remarkable film and one I urge you to see as soon as you can.

Other aspects of the review to follow.