(Movie) Tapped out...a look at Half Nelson

This movie was recommended by Jessica (meetmeinmontavk.tumblr.com)

I was discussing Blue Valentine with Jessica last week and she suggested that I take a look at this film, as it was the movie that showed Ryan Gosling's true acting potential. 

I'm inclined to agree. 

But, how does it rate?

Let's review! 

Story/Dialogue: Half Nelson follows Dan Dunne, a history teacher using an unusual method of teaching called didactics. Teaching a class of African American kids, he's well liked amongst the students and teachers, but the Principal is not a fan as they are of different teaching styles. 

He's also a cocaine addict. 

When Drey, one of his students finds him in the bathroom stoned, she helps him and they establish an unlikely friendship. 

Drey is a teenage girl with a single mum who works and a brother in prison for dealing drugs. His former employer, Frank (Portrayed by Anthony Mackie) tries to recruit her into the business, while Dan tries to mentor her and be her friend as well as her teacher.

The main theme of Half Nelson is change and the collision of opposites. Throughout the film, we see this theme reinforced. What's more, the film's rewatchability shows that this film can be analysed over and over so you can see the many examples of the theme being portrayed. (I'll cover those in the next section.)

The dialogue is easy to understand, though not everything is straight forward in the speech. Like, you're not going to have someone who asks for help straight up, they need to beat around the bush. To admit your deepest fear is the turning point.

While I don't want to give away spoilers, I also would like to point out that his addiction is never resolved. However, I don't think this would be the same movie if it had been resolved. This is about current conflict in the self and the world around the characters, not the resolution of said conflict.

Cinematography: Most of the scenes are shot handheld, which gives us an intimate atmosphere to what we witness. We're less of an audience and more of a bystander that is mostly ignored.

There are instances of dolly use, such as when Dan is going for a morning run, but it's not used often.

As you watch, you'll notice that the theme of change and conflict of opposing forces is shown visually throughout the film. This includes:

- Skin colour

- Age
- Class
- Profession

- Mentors

- Relationships

This occurs both internally and externally and it's all shown on screen.

Audio: Though not overly memorable, the music is the kind of tracks you would hear on the street. It feels natural. It's not as though you'd hear Hans Zimmer or John Williams at a restaurant or on a street corner, but this score and library audio combination feels right at home on the streets of NY.

The sound department did a fantastic job in making sure that the atmos tracks were well layered and didn't conflict with any of the dialogue.

Overall: While I'm not a big fan of the white saviour trope in films (See Elysium and such movies like that,) I did enjoy how immersive this film was. I felt that rather than simply watching it, I was a part of it. 

Ryan Gosling really stood out in this role and felt real somehow. In the other movies I've seen, he's often been disconnected from the film or has been Ryan Gosling pretending to be someone else. In this film, he was Dan Dunne. 

I loved Drey as a character. She's smart, sassy, but she's also prone to making mistakes, which only made me like her more. She's organic and her development as a character is really interesting to watch.

Overall, I give this movie 5 stars.