Synopsis
Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a startling discovery of his secret life, causing a tenuous bond between the two that could either end disastrously or provide a catalyst of hope.
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Cast
- Ryan GoslingDan Dunne
- Shareeka EppsDrey
- Anthony MackieFrank
- Jeff LimaRoodly
- Monique Gabriela CurnenIsabel
- Tina HolmesRachel
- Nathan CorbettTerrance
- Tyra Kwao-VovoStacy
- Rosemary LedeeGina
- Tristan Mack WildsJamal
Recommendations
- 100
Entertainment Weekly
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. - 100
TV Guide Magazine
Superb drama from New York-based filmmakers Ryan Flek and Anna Boden. - 91
The A.V. Club
Gosling excels at playing contradictory characters like this one, having kick-started his career as a Jewish neo-Nazi in "The Believer," but here, his inner turmoil rarely gets vocalized. It's a remarkably subtle performance. - 90
Village Voice
The audacity of making an inner-city drama in which the white-male authority figure is the crackhead finds its equal in Gosling's already legendary performance, a high-wire act that's gutsiest for its unconscionable charm. - 90
The New York Times
What makes Half Nelson both an unusual and an exceptional American film, particularly at a time when even films about Sept. 11 are professed to have no politics, is its insistence on political consciousness as a moral imperative. - 80
Film Threat
Fleck manages to mix the storylines which include drug abuse, political commentary and making good choices about your life's path flawlessly. - 80
New York Magazine (Vulture)
Downbeat as it is, Half Nelson is a genuinely inspirational film--a terrifically compelling character study and a tricky exploration of the links (and busted links) between the personal and the political. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
If there was ever any doubt, with Half Nelson, Ryan Gosling establishes himself as a major talent and one of the finest young actors around.
