Half Nelson (film)
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''Half Nelson'' is a 2006 American
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Ryan Fleck Anna Boden and Ryan K. Fleck are an American filmmaking duo. They are best known for their collaborations on the films ''Half Nelson (film), Half Nelson'', ''Sugar (2008 film), Sugar'', '' It's Kind of a Funny Story (film), It's Kind of a Funny ...
and written by Fleck and
Anna Boden Anna Boden and Ryan K. Fleck are an American filmmaking duo. They are best known for their collaborations on the films ''Half Nelson'', '' Sugar'', '' It's Kind of a Funny Story'', ''Mississippi Grind'' and '' Captain Marvel''. Early life ...
. The film stars Ryan Gosling,
Shareeka Epps Shareeka Epps (born July 11, 1989) is an American actress. She is best known for starring in the 2006 film '' Half Nelson'', alongside Ryan Gosling. She won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in the film. Life ...
and
Anthony Mackie Anthony Dwane Mackie (born September 23, 1978) is an American actor. Mackie made his acting debut starring in the semi-biographical drama film '' 8 Mile'' (2002). He was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor for his pe ...
. It was scored by Canadian band
Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the oth ...
. 26-year-old Gosling was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...
for his performance, becoming the eighth-youngest nominee in the category. The story concerns an
inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...
middle-school teacher who forms a friendship with a student, after she discovers that he has a drug habit. The film is based on a 19-minute film made by Boden and Fleck in 2004, titled ''Gowanus, Brooklyn''. It premiered in competition at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. It was released theatrically on August 11, 2006.


Plot

Dan Dunne is a young middle-school history teacher at a
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
school, with a teaching style that rejects the standard curriculum in favor of an approach based upon
dialectics Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to ...
. While being an engaging teacher in the classroom, in his own time he is shown snorting and freebasing
cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
. Dan becomes upset when his ex-girlfriend, Rachel, turns up unexpected at a school basketball game, wanting to see him. A short while later, one of his students, Drey, catches him freebasing in the locker room. Drey's family consists of her overworked single-mother and her brother, Mike, who is in prison for selling drugs for a neighborhood dealer, Frank. Drey's father is also absent, making her dependent on Dan for rides home from school. Her lack of supervision also makes her a target for Frank, who encourages her to sell drugs for him. As Dan and Drey's friendship develops, Dan perceives Frank to be a bad influence on her and tries to persuade him to stay away from her. Drey tries to get Dan to open up about his drug habit to her, though to no avail. After a tense conversation with Frank about Drey, Dan becomes intoxicated and visits Isabel, another teacher at the school whom he has dated. Initially seeking affection, he then forces himself on her, and she defends herself and runs from him; Dan leaves after apologizing. The following day, Dan is hostile towards Drey, ignoring her concern for him and telling her they are not friends. Drey instead associates with Frank, and completes her first drug sale for him. Dan goes to his parents' house for dinner, though is distant and uninterested in the conversation. Dan's brother's girlfriend, Cindy, catches him freebasing in the garage; the two converse and she tells him a joke which makes him laugh. The same night, Drey is out with Frank, selling drugs. Drey arrives at a motel to make a delivery and finds a room of people using drugs. Dan is there and is revealed to be the buyer. The two do not talk as he hands her the money. The next day, Dan is absent from school, and the class has a substitute teacher. Drey is affected by his absence, and declines a ride home from Frank once school is finished. She instead visits Dan's motel room, finding him hung-over from the previous night. Dan cleans himself up, before sitting down to drink a glass of water. Drey sits down and joins him. The film ends with Dan telling the same joke he heard from Cindy, but he gets the timing of the joke wrong, ruining it. Drey and Dan both break out in laughter at his failed joke.


Cast

* Ryan Gosling as Dan Dunne, a troubled history teacher *
Shareeka Epps Shareeka Epps (born July 11, 1989) is an American actress. She is best known for starring in the 2006 film '' Half Nelson'', alongside Ryan Gosling. She won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in the film. Life ...
as Drey, a 13-year-old student of Dan's *
Anthony Mackie Anthony Dwane Mackie (born September 23, 1978) is an American actor. Mackie made his acting debut starring in the semi-biographical drama film '' 8 Mile'' (2002). He was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor for his pe ...
as Frank, a local drug dealer *
Monique Gabriela Curnen Monique Gabriela Curnen (born September 7, 1970) is an American actress. Early life and education Curnen was born on September 7, 1970. Her mother is from Puerto Rico, and her father is of German and Irish descent. She grew up in Framingham, Mas ...
as Isabel Redding, a teacher *
Denis O'Hare Denis Patrick Seamus O'Hare (born January 17, 1962) is an American actor, singer, and author noted for his award-winning performances in the plays '' Take Me Out'' and ''Sweet Charity'', as well as portraying vampire king Russell Edgington on HB ...
as Jimbo, a teacher * Starla Benford as Principal Joy Henderson * Nathan Corbett as Terrance, a student * Tyra Kwao-Vovo as Stacy, a student * Jeff Lima as Roodly, a student * Karen Chilton as Karen, Drey's mother *
Deborah Rush Deborah Rush (born April 10, 1954) is an American actress. She has worked in television, film and on Broadway. In 1984, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Michael Frayn's comedy ''Noise ...
as Jo Dunne, Dan's mother *
Jay O. Sanders Jay Olcutt Sanders (born April 16, 1953) is an American film, theatre and television actor and playwright. He frequently appears in plays off-Broadway at The Public Theatre. Early life and education Sanders was born on April 16, 1953 in Austin, ...
as Russ Dunne, Dan's father * David Easton as Jeff Dunne, Dan's brother * Nicole Vicius as Cindy, Jeff's girlfriend *
Collins Pennie Collins Pennie (born June 20, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Prom Night'' as Ronnie Heflin, and in ''In Time'' as Time Keeper Jaeger. He also starred in the films ''Fame'' and '' Stomp the Yard: Homecoming''. Early l ...
as Mike, Drey's brother *
Tina Holmes Tina Holmes (born in New York City) is an American television and film actress, known for appearing as Maggie Sibley in '' Six Feet Under''. Early years and education Holmes grew up in New York City and Connecticut. She attended Yale Univer ...
as Rachel, Dan's ex-girlfriend *
Tristan Wilds Tristan Paul Mack Wilds (born July 15, 1989) is an American actor, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series, ''The Wire'', and as Dixon Wilson on the CW teen drama seri ...
as Jamal, a student * Erica Rivera as Erika * Bryce Silver as Bernard * Kaela C. Pabon as Lena * Stephanie Bast as Vanessa * Eleanor Hutchins as Simone * Sebastian Sozzi as Javier * Thaddeus Daniels as Referee * Raymond Anthony Thomas as Earle *
Ron Cephas Jones Ron Cephas Jones (born January 8, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the drama series '' This Is Us'' (2016–2022), which earned him four consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning twice for Outstanding Gues ...
as Lloyd Dickson * Christopher Williamson as Charles * Leslie Eva Glaser as Rose * Sharon Washington as Suzanne * Larry Rapp


Release


Box office performance

The film was given limited release opening in two theaters, taking in $53,983 its opening weekend."Weekend Box Office Results for August 11–13, 2006
''Box Office Mojo''. IMDb. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
The film grossed $2,697,938 in North America and $1,962,543 internationally for a worldwide gross of $4,660,481. The film's budget was $700,000.


Critical response

''Half Nelson'' received critical acclaim. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
the film has an approval rating of 90%, based on 157 reviews, with an average rating of 7.57/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Half Nelson'' features powerful performances from Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps. It's a wise, unsentimental portrait of lonely people at the crossroads." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
the film has a score of 85 out of 100, based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". On the television show '' Ebert & Roeper'' that aired during the weekend of August 13, 2006,
Richard Roeper Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American columnist and film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. He co-hosted the television series '' At the Movies'' with Roger Ebert from 2000 to 2008, serving as the late Gene Siskel's success ...
and guest critic
Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film ''Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co ...
gave ''Half Nelson'' a "two big thumbs up" rating. Smith said that it was probably one of the ten best films he had seen in the last decade. Jim Emerson, editor of ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'', gave the film four-stars-out-of-four and called it a masterpiece. ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' film critic Lisa Schwarzbaum awarded the film with an "A" and stated in her review for the film, "''Half Nelson'' offers an opportunity to marvel, once again, at the dazzling talent of Ryan Gosling for playing young men as believable as they are psychologically trip-wired." ''
LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...
'' critic Scott Foundas wrote, "At a time when most American movies, studio made or 'independent,' seem ever more divorced from anything approximating actual life experience, ''Half Nelson'' is so sobering and searingly truthful that watching it feels like being tossed from a calm beach into a raging current." ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' critic
Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...
gave the film an enthusiastic response, stating in his review, "What is different about ''Half Nelson'' is the execution, the kind of subtlety in writing, directing and acting (by costars Shareeka Epps and Anthony Mackie as well as Gosling) you seldom see." Film critic
Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...
of the ''
Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...
'' wrote that "a dedicated, charismatic, crack-addicted history teacher is the most believable protagonist in an American movie this year." ''
The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...
'' film critic ''
Luke Davies Luke Davies (born 1962) is an Australian writer of poetry, novels and screenplays. His best known works are '' Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction'' (which was adapted for the screen in 2006) and the screenplay for the film '' Lion'', which e ...
'' described the film as "engaging and elegant, unpredictable and non-didactic, a film which comfortably sits with its own ambiguities and even allows them to go largely unresolved," commending the film's fresh take on the occasionally exhausted "teacher with a heart of gold" story, achieved by "one of the ilm'squiet strengths ... that it doesn't try to resolve Dunne's journey of devouring". Davies concluded that the film's optimistic and pessimistic convergence deemed the film "transparent and sparkling and diamond-hard, a small gem." ''
Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication fro ...
'' named it one of the "50 Best Movies of the Decade" (2000–2009), ranking it at #16.


Music

''Half Nelson: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' was released in the United States and Canada on August 8, 2006, by Lakeshore Records. The Canadian band
Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the oth ...
, featured prominently throughout the film, is also included on the soundtrack. ; Track listing


Accolades

Many of the nominations were for Ryan Gosling, including the
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, for his performance as Dan Dunne. *
Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...
(Ryan Gosling) — Nominated (2006) * Black Reel Award for Best Breakthrough Performance (Shareeka Epps) — Nominated (2007) *
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best New Filmmaker The Boston Society of Film Critics has presented an annual Award for Best New Filmmaker since 1996; the recipients of the inaugural prize were Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci, co-directors of ''Big Night''. 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s External ...
(Ryan Fleck) — Winner; Best Supporting Actress (Shareeka Epps) — Nominated (2006) *
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor is an award given out at the annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. The awards are presented by the Critics Choice Association (CCA) and was first presented in 1995. There were no official nominees ann ...
(Ryan Gosling) — Nominated; Best Young Actress (Shareeka Epps) — Nominated (2007) * Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Performer (Shareeka Epps) — Nominated (2006) * Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association – Russell Smith Award (Ryan Fleck) — Winner (2006) * Deauville Film Festival – Jury Special Prize Ryan Fleck — Winner; Revelations Prize (Ryan Fleck) — Winner (2006) *
Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Feature The Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Feature is one of the annual Gotham Independent Film Awards and was first awarded in 2004 with Alexander Payne's ''Sideways'' being the first recipient of the award. Winners and nominees 2000s 2010s ...
(Ryan Fleck) — Winner; Breakthrough Actor (Shareeka Epps; Tied with
Rinko Kikuchi (born ; January 6, 1981) is a Japanese actress. She was the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years, for her work in ''Babel'' (2006). Kikuchi's other notable films include '' Norwegian Wood'' (2010), which s ...
for '' Babel''); Breakthrough Director (Ryan Fleck) — Winner (2006) *
Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead The Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead wass one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards to honor an actress who has delivered an outstanding Leading actor, lead performance in an independent film. It was first presented in 1985 with Gera ...
(Shareeka Epps) — Winner; Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead (Ryan Gosling) — Winner;
Independent Spirit Award for Best Director The Film Independent's Spirit Award for Best Director is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards. It was first presented in 1985 with Joel Coen and Martin Scorsese being the first winners of the category for ''Blood Simple'' and ''After Hours ( ...
(Ryan Fleck) — Nominated; Best Feature (Jamie Patricof, Alex Orlovsky, Lynette Howell, Anna Boden, and Rosanne Korenberg) — Nominated; Best First Screenplay (Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck) — Nominated (2007) *
Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...
- Special Jury Prize (Ryan Fleck – Director, Anna Boden – Producer, Lynette Howell – Producer, Rosanne Korenberg – Producer, Alex Orlovsky – Producer, and Jamie Patricof – Producer) — Winner; Youth Jury Award – Special Mention (Ryan Fleck) — Winner; Golden Leopard (Ryan Fleck) — Nominated (2006) * Nantucket Film Festival – Screenwriting Award (Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck) — Winner (2006) * National Board of Review for Best Breakthrough Performance – Male (Ryan Gosling) — Winner (2006) * Philadelphia Film Festival for Best Director (Ryan Fleck) — Winner (2006) * San Francisco International Film Festival for Best Film (Ryan Fleck) — Winner (2006) * Seattle International Film Festival – Golden Space Needle Audience Award for Best Actor (Ryan Gosling) — Winner (2006) *
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture is an award given by the Screen Actors Guild to honor the finest acting achievements in film. Winners and nominees 1990s 2000s 2 ...
(Ryan Gosling) — Nominated (2007) * Stockholm Film Festival for Best Actor (Ryan Gosling) — Winner (2006)


Home media

''Half Nelson'' was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
on February 13, 2007, courtesy of ThinkFilm and
Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...
. Bonus features include outtakes, deleted scenes, filmmaker commentary, and a music video by Rhymefest. The film has earned $16,180,000 in rentals and $1,538,323 in DVD sales. It was released on
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
in the United Kingdom in November 2015.Half Nelson Blu-ray
''Blu-ray.com''.


References


External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Half Nelson 2006 films 2006 drama films American drama films American independent films Films about drugs Films set in Brooklyn Films about educators Films about teacher–student relationships Films directed by Ryan Fleck Films shot in New York City 2006 directorial debut films 2006 independent films Films shot in 16 mm film 2000s English-language films 2000s American films