Half Nelson

Half Nelson is a wonderful film about friendship and making strides. There have been plenty of films about teachers making a difference in the lives of their students, but how many films actually show a real difference a student can make in the life of their teacher. The film can be heartbreaking with generic tear drop scenes that somehow scream authenticity or looks in characters' eyes that linger and are so layered I could take about the resonance for hours. I liked how Half Nelson portrayed addiction. Ryan Gosling just kept making me to yell "snap out of it!" But addiction is harder than that. We forget sometimes. The struggle Gosling goes through is internal. His words betray him. He can handle it, and all that jazz. But the struggle feels real. He's not a bad guy. He can be self-centered and rude and cold, but he genuinely cares about Shareeka Epps. Without that gleem of caring, I think it would have been more difficult for me to sympathize with Gosling's character (like the trouble I had with Nic Cage in Leaving Las Vegas). Gosling's performance is, I think, the best of the year. It was very genuine, sometimes painfully so. And in spite of his character's flaws, I felt justified in rooting for the guy, in part because Shareeka Epps was rooting for him. She is a real find. Her laughs, her little smiles and anger all breathe naturally. The characters needed each other in a way that I think is unique in the portrayals of teacher-student relationship in film where usually one depends more on the other (usually student depends on teacher). The change was welcome.

Gotta' love that open-ended ending. They give you hope without ramming your skull with it. the ending felt so natural to the point where any other possible ending just seems wrong now.

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