Drug education gets personal in
Half Nelson
.
Half Nelson
is neither a Disney coming of age story nor an inspirational film about a good-natured teacher motivating inner-city kids. It is a wrestling move, one in which a person's own strength is used against oneself. From the first shot of writer/director Ryan Fleck's debut feature, it is clear his characters are in a battle with themselves.
Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling), junior high history teacher and drug addict, sits in his scanties on the floor of his apartment after being up all night, his alarm blaring, signaling it's time to go be a role model. Drey (Shareeka Epps), a 13-year-old whose brother was jailed for dealing
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drugs, stumbles upon her mentor reeling from a crack hit in the girls' locker room. The idea is sensational, but the afflictions of the characters are powerful and played with staggering truth.
Through the role of the increasingly wayward Dan, Gosling establishes himself as one of the most insightful, subtle and compelling actors of his generation. Caught by Drey on the floor of the bathroom, his eyes constrict in fear, affected by a hint of guilt, as if his hand is stuck in a cookie jar and his despair outweighs the crime. His responsibilities as a teacher and adult disintegrate, revealing his loneliness. Drey becomes the only person who witnesses his dichotomy as both the teacher and the lost soul.
Epps produces an organic and staggering performance as Drey, a child struggling with the opposing forces of strength and fragility, curiosity and fear. Still shell-shocked from discovering Dan's secret, Drey talks to her mother about a 35-day fast taken by Che Guevara. Her confusion and pain melt into a resolve to honor the
teacher who has inspired her, even if it means coming closer
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to the drug dealer, Frank (Anthony Mackie), who ruined her family.
Through peppered stock footage and show-and-tell-style class presentations, Fleck makes the unlikely bond growing between the two a mirror for equally shocking events in American history, such as Attica and the CIA's support of Augusto Pinochet. In a riveting scene between Dan and Frank, Dan, in an imperialistic tone, yells at Frank to "do a good thing" and stay away from Drey. Suddenly aware of his own hypocrisy at thinking that he, a base head, is a better influence than his dealer, Dan's resolve quivers with all that he doesn't know.
The film is a minimalistic piece, shot appropriately in a hand-held
cinéma vérité
style that dances around its raw performances. Like the Nelson after which it is so aptly named, the turning of the tide can come suddenly, when one understands one's own force.
