Half-Nelson

I had kept reading things about Ryan Gosling's acting for this movie, so naturally I was a bit skeptical going into this free screening. Ok the skepticism came not just from having read about his acting but because a friend of mine would watch him on the syndicated tv show "young hercules" years ago and would not shut up about how hot she thought he was. And then he did "The Notebook" which didn't help - so all in all, not the most auspious beginning for a "Serious Actor."

But then I remembered his performance in "The United State of Leland" and seeing him in "Half-Nelson" made me question my previous skepticism. "Half-Nelson" is not big on major story or plot, instead it is a quiet character study of one drug addicted man teaching at an inner-city (a term which I always translated into meaning 'ghetto' kids) school and the unlikely friendship he develops with one of his students.

The actress who plays the student Drey, Shareeka Epps blew me away with her ability to show the complexity of what it is like to grow up in a world where there are no heroes, no one to rely on and practically no hope of escaping the many trappings of poverty. Drey has a brother in prison, a mother who can barely be home because of work and no father to speak of. There is a local dealer, Frank whose relationship to Drey and her brother is never clearly explained (is he related to them? or is Frank just feeling obligated because Drey's brother hasn't ratted him out to the police yet?) but the clear struggle Drey has in trying to navigate between her drug-addicted teacher and Frank is heart-wrenching.

Unfortunately, most of the kids in Drey's situation aren't this thoughtful or as obviously emotionally complex. Anyone who has met a group of these kids know that they learn early on to never display such raw honesty - the kids tend to be loud, crass and obnoxious, showing little manners or ability to think beyond their immediate wants and needs. I've seen kids as young as 6 or 7 with behaviour so throughly heinous that its no wonder society has given up on them. The ironic thing is that these kids are very much like many of the vacuous, superficial kids that come out of the suburbs, with the difference being money and access to good education systems. The suburban kids are completely spoiled and can be just as loud, crass and obnoxious as any 'ghetto' kid, they just choose to be that way in places that require money instead of on public transportation.

Thinking back, part of that duality between the suburban life and the 'ghetto' life is shown in the movie through Ryan Gosling's character Dan Dunne, and Shareeka Epps' character, Drey. Dan, despite being a product of a "stable" home with education and money, still acts like a jerk, with Drey, trying to survive her loud, crass and obnoxious environment.

"Half-Nelson" is definitely an interesting film and the acting between Shareeka Epps and Ryan Gosling is not to be missed. See this is you enjoy watching complex characters try and exist in a complex world.