Review

Review Date: 17-September-06
Spoiler Rating: High
Juju Judgment: Jubilation!

Half Nelson (2006)

If "Half Nelson" opens overseas in, say, China, it might aptly be called "Yin Yang" instead of something derived from wrestling. The title refers to a hold in which two contestants are verily intertwined, a concept which echoes a recurring theme of filmmaker Ryan Fleck. Throughout his superb story of a middle school teacher spiraling into oblivion, Fleck posits that the meeting of opposing forces is the primary catalyst for change. Change in a good sense, like the civil rights movement or the point in a person's life when everything is going to hell and he or she veers in a different direction.

The central characters in "Half Nelson" are the teacher, Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling), and a student named Drey (Shareeka Epps) whom he sees in history class and on the basketball team he coaches. Shortly after the movie begins, Mr. Dunne takes advantage of an empty locker room to enjoy a few hits of crack, an addiction which has ravaged his bank account and at least one relationship from his past. In the first of several heart-wrenching scenes, Drey comes in to use the toilet and finds him in decidedly bad shape. The moment is so powerful because it feels so wrong: every moviegoer knows that the smart, cool teacher should be a role model for the inner-city black kid, or at least a responsible adult in front of an unformed teenager. But the tables are turned from what we've come to expect, and the grappling of opposites begins in an unorthodox way.

As the story unfolds, we learn more about the choices that Dan and Drey face and how they came to have them. For his part, an idealistic but hollow upbringing has led to a life of withdrawn disillusionment, a state which Gosling inhabits with fluency. For her part, the combination of single mother, absent father, and older brother in jail has made Drey pragmatic beyond her years. Newcomer Epps rises to the challenge of playing Gosling's match by letting both her toughness and vulnerability show. You feel sorry for both characters but especially for Drey, since she's younger and therefore more dependent on the actions of others.

Dan responds to this dependence, but he's in no condition to help her. Another of the movie's surprises is how it tweaks the smug certitude of the white, middle-class liberal who would view Drey as a product of some other class' ills. Dan's rival for the role of paternal guardian is a black drug dealer (Anthony Mackie) who sincerely views Drey as family. Both men offer her a degree of friendship in return for something they need; which one is better suited to guide her into the future? The understated ending suggests that her own strength will ultimately carry her through, and perhaps elevate her teacher in the process. The meeting of these two forces, straining against themselves and each other, points to the potential for positive change. "Half Nelson" is both a gripping and encouraging film.

Copyright © 2006 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.