HALF NELSON movie discussion

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my review and thoughts..chck out more at www.literaryillusions.com HALF NELSON is a well acted film with a real message. Is the message worth the movie? I’ll think on that and get back to you at the end of the review. The movie is about an inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit who forms a friendship with one of his students after she discovers him smoking crack. Ryan Gosling plays the teacher and is Oscar nominated for the role. Ryan Gosling is an underrated young actor who I fully support for the Oscar nomination. Ryan’s performance turns what could have been a slow drama into a captivating story for entertainment. He does , however, over do it in a few spots when trying to show he is “hip” in the urban school environment. As a history teacher Ryan tells the kids about conflict and opposing forces pushing upon each other. This concept of history becomes the basic, underlying message to the film. There are real clips from news events and protest situations used to accent this message and portray “the machine” as an oppressing entity we all fight against and yet are all also a part of. Fitting this message into the plot leads to some rather dramatic moments. Eventually Ryan and the student that witnessed his usage of drugs are used as an example for this message: Ryan is a drug addict and the young girl begins working for a drug dealer. The moment when the two cross paths during a drug deal and Ryan the addict hands her the cash is a moment of realization and Oscar worthy understanding. The “machine” isn’t the only message to be taken from this film. There are also things shown about friendship, coming-of-age, and the day to day living of life. Or wait…all of those are just pieces of the machine. When the Oscar nominees were announced there were many perplexed individuals wondering who Ryan Gosling was and when did the movie HALF NELSON come out? The movie could have been more widely released and reached a bigger audience I think if there was more to it. By having “more to it”, I specifically mean the film needs an ending. The ending for the film is more of an artsy time for the viewer to meditate on the message and lacks much entertainment value. I wish something more could have just “happened”. HALF NELSON is worth a rent for any drama fan, but don’t expect much from the ending. As for that message: I think the movie approached it in a powerful and creative way and regardless of how I feel about the lack of an ending there were several moments where the conflict shows the impact of “the machine”. Good stuff.