half nelson is a small indie film exploring the relationship between a teacher, Dan Dunne (played by Ryan Gosling, the brightest acting talent of his generation) and a thirteen year old student, Drey (played by Shareeka Epps in her film debut) in a school on the wrong side of the tracks in Brooklyn.

Mercifully, half nelson strays from the usual cliches of this genre of filmmaking. While Dunne is an unconventional and passionate teacher he does not, as convention would have it, inspire his class to rise above society’s dim expectations of them and be the best they can be, he evokes mild interest from his students at best. Changing the world by changing the perspectives of his students, one suspects, may well have been the original inspiration for the idealistic Dunne, but he now holds out against cynicism by hoping “to make a difference in just one student’s life.”

But the major divergence from the standard teacher’s tale lies in Dunne’s extra curricular activities, by night is a hopeless drug addict. He manages to successfully keep both strands of his double life separate, till one evening after coaching the girl’s basketball team he is discovered getting high in the toilets by Drey. A worldly thirteen year old, whose brother is in jail and is raised by an overworked and overwhelmed single mother, Drey reacts with sympathy towards Dunne and keeps his secret. From there an unusual friendship develops.

Something of a mood movie, half nelson has the effect of allowing the viewer to squat in its character’s lives for a period of time and draw their own conclusions. It never labours or forces a point, understatement and subtlety are order of the day. It touches on important issues in today’s America but steadfastly refuses to preach, showing flawed people struggling to do their best rather than dividing characters into good/bad archetypes. It manages to be affecting and moving without ever slipping into sentimentality or melodrama, the film has a feel of authenticity and honesty that the high minded movies of inspirational against the odds teachers usually lack. It’s characters are allowed to fail and are all the more sympathetic for it. Dunne struggles with his addiction, falling deeper and deeper into it, while Drey is sucked in by the temptations of the streets. Good people falling prey to their own weaknesses, but the small kindnesses they do for each other help them keep their heads above water in a sea of amorality.

Dunne, who sets off trying to find a student he can make a difference for, ends up finding one who makes a difference in his life. Half nelson is the kind of film that makes you feel better about being an ordinary person, the kind of film that reminds you that our everyday struggles matter as long as they matter to just one other person. Go see it.

Bluegerm