Half Nelson (2006)

90% of critics liked it
(153 reviews)
82% of users liked it
(51,471 ratings)

An inner-city teacher struggling with addiction forms an unlikely bond with a young student who catches him in a compromising position in director Ryan Fleck's feature-length adaptation of his own award-winning short film Gowanus, Brooklyn. Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill… More An inner-city teacher struggling with addiction forms an unlikely bond with a young student who catches him in a compromising position in director Ryan Fleck's feature-length adaptation of his own award-winning short film Gowanus, Brooklyn. Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) leads a secret life that the majority of his students will never know. When Dunne's drug-soaked nightlife begins to bleed over into his daytime hours and troubled student Drey (Shareeka Epps) makes a startling discovery, the tenuous bond that forms between the pair soon leads to a warm friendship that could either lead them down a dangerous path or provide the human companionship needed to see things from a fresh perspective and start life anew. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 27 min.
Directed By: Ryan Fleck
Written By: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Aug 11, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Apr 24, 2007
Studio: ThinkFilm

Critic Reviews

Bob Mondello, NPR.org
Ryan Gosling's self-destructive teacher is easily the year's most mesmerizing character study. And he's hardly the only reason to see this film. Shareeka Epps anchors her scenes as Drey with a self-possession way beyond her years.
Joe Baltake, Passionate Moviegoer
'Half Nelson': A Magnetic Ryan Gosling
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
The movie comes down to Gosling's spot-on performance and how we feel about it.
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com
Gosling is indeed amazing as a bewildered, depressed New York schoolteacher who is slipping into dire drug addiction; it's exactly the kind of star turn in a smaller film that Academy voters could (and should) notice.
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
Although the subject promises more than the film can deliver, there is compensation in Gosling's convincing, unromanticized portrayal of someone seeking escape from longing and loss that neither he nor the movie can really define.
Bob Longino, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For a solid 107 minutes, Gosling shapes his character into a flesh-and-blood tone poem.
Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media
Indie inner-city drama with drug-addict teacher.
Nick Rogers, Suite101.com
"Half Nelson" elegantly tiptoe around its elephant in the room: Dan's most compelling instruction to not let Drey enter the drug trade is his own destruction. That point of panic turns into something approaching penance.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
The filmmakers bask disingenuously in their tidy vision of border-busting healing
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix
A sometimes subtle, sometimes bombastic (Gosling's performance ranges from brilliant to bug-eyed) parable about class, race, power, and the dialectics of family relationships.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
The movie hits a stream of false notes when Dunne's students deliver oral reports on Civil Rights struggles that could only have been plagiarized. The film's ending isn't only meager, it's utterly listless.
Heather Huntington, ReelzChannel.com
Gosling is up for an Oscar (R) for his work in Half Nelson, and there's no question he earned the nomination.
Brandon Fibbs, BrandonFibbs.com
Half Nelson trades melodrama for authenticity, cliche heroics for genuine heart, cheap cinematic parlor tricks for blessed restraint.
Kam Williams, Asbury Park Coaster
A half-hearted study in black and white which is well-acted but based on a script which never dares to take enough risks.
Joe Lozito, Big Picture Big Sound
We've gotten so close to these characters (and they to each other) that we don't want to let them go.
Philip French, Observer [UK]
It is, in fact, a fine piece of work: reticent, intelligent, wholly devoid of triumphalism or self-pity.
Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald
It's hardly a film which trumpets its virtues but that's part of the pleasure to be had from it. It doesn't know how good it is.
Prairie Miller, WBAI Web Radio
While the students first mock Marxist dialectics and notions of oppression applied to the everyday, they are eventually eagerly embracing the rebellious spirit of Attica and Allende in class presentations that provide euphoric momentum.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
Looks to me like a self conscious film that thrives on its own negativity. Studied, anti-establishment, arthouse cinema that gloats over its moral superiority %u2013 which is rather ironic.
, Daily Mirror [UK]
It's a thoughtful character study with Gosling simply tremendous as the functioning addict, who seems to use crack to anaesthetise him from his inability to form adult relationships.

Read all 21 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Bob S

Gowanus, baby! That's my Brooklyn. Sophisticated but somewhat hazy (existential-dialectic-liberal) look at the conflict and dis-integration of the personal and the political. Good premise, great performances, good intentions - but Half Nelson comes up a bit short storywise.… More
Gowanus, baby! That's my Brooklyn. Sophisticated but somewhat hazy (existential-dialectic-liberal) look at the conflict and dis-integration of the personal and the political. Good premise, great performances, good intentions - but Half Nelson comes up a bit short storywise. - the final scene reminded me of the one in the Graduate .. and even if it is at times appropriate here, i still hate twitchy floaty zoomy handheld camera-work.
Sam B

It's a refreshing deviation from the 'inspirational inner city teacher' cliche, and a decent exploration of morality. It has other good things going for it as well, especially the performances of Ryan Gosling and Anthony Mackie (more recently seen in The Adjustment… More
It's a refreshing deviation from the 'inspirational inner city teacher' cliche, and a decent exploration of morality. It has other good things going for it as well, especially the performances of Ryan Gosling and Anthony Mackie (more recently seen in The Adjustment Bureau). However, the film constantly tries to be political, and I would have to say that it fails in that regard, since it doesn't make a clear, fleshed-out argument. The random scenes of students explaining historical events only connect with the actual story on the broadest of levels, and they only really serve to take audiences out of that story. There's also the overuse of handheld camera shakiness, which helps to add a gritty realism at first points but becomes pretty annoying before too long. Still, "Half Nelson" succeeds in its depiction of troubled characters that actually feel troubled. From a directing and writing standpoint, the film outshines Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden's more recent film "It's Kind of a Funny Story," a very, very different film that nonetheless highlights that the biggest problem of "Half Nelson" is that it takes itself too seriously.
♥˩ƳИИ &

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie, Deborah Rush, Jay O. Sanders, Nicole Vicius, Denis O'Hare, Tina Holmes Director: Ryan Fleck Summary: Transcending age and race, an improbable friendship between crack-addicted educator Dan Dunne (Oscar-nominated Ryan Gosling)… More
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie, Deborah Rush, Jay O. Sanders, Nicole Vicius, Denis O'Hare, Tina Holmes Director: Ryan Fleck Summary: Transcending age and race, an improbable friendship between crack-addicted educator Dan Dunne (Oscar-nominated Ryan Gosling) and streetwise middle-schooler Drey (Shareeka Epps) may lead them to deliverance -- or destruction -- in this powerful urban drama. After Drey finds Dunne feeding his habit in a locker room, she becomes a conduit for a life-changing lesson. Gosling and Epps won Independent Spirit awards for their lead roles. My Thoughts: "Another great performance by Ryan Gosling. The man is one of the best actors in films today. I really liked Shareeka Epps in this as well. She comes off as having a hard shell, but her emotions scream through it. Very talented girl. I feel like Dunne and Drey's teacher and student relationship being more then just that should bother me and feel a bit creepy. But it didn't. They are both lonely and looking for something to just help them get through their lives. It just felt like he was trying to help her and without him knowing it, she was helping him in the process. Great cast, acting, and directing. One of Gosling's best acting roles. The shakiness of the camera was a bit distracting for me at first, but bout an hour in I forgot to notice it. Besides that, I have no other complaints. The film was really one of Gosling's best." Dan Dunne: "One thing doesn't make a man".
Kase V

Ryan Gosling and company give great performances, but the original charm the characters seem to offer slowly dwindles until Gosling's character stoops to a new low. At this point, the movie hits an astonishing low as well, and the film loses a heavy dose of entertainment value as… More
Ryan Gosling and company give great performances, but the original charm the characters seem to offer slowly dwindles until Gosling's character stoops to a new low. At this point, the movie hits an astonishing low as well, and the film loses a heavy dose of entertainment value as it trudges along.
Mark W

Ryan Gosling is one of those actors that is in danger of his talents being overshadowed because he's seen as eye candy for the female cinema going public - much in the same way that Brad Pitt has suffered. However, if he keeps producing high calibre performances such as this,… More
Ryan Gosling is one of those actors that is in danger of his talents being overshadowed because he's seen as eye candy for the female cinema going public - much in the same way that Brad Pitt has suffered. However, if he keeps producing high calibre performances such as this, then there will be no denying why he's on screen in the first place. Dan Dunne (Gosling) teaches in a poor school where his unusual approach engages the pupils. But out of school, frustration fuels his drug habit. One night troubled student Drey (Shareeka Epps) chances upon him while he's high on crack cocaine, and a bond is forged. It's unfair to praise a film based solely on one person's performance, especially when the writing, directing and supporting actors all do their fair share. But this is a film that's hard to see beyond the lead actor. Gosling is the real deal; nuanced and edgy with blink-and-you'll-miss-it subtlety. He's an actor that possesses the unique ability to say very little but express so much. Full of subtle ticks and mannerisms, to convey his feelings. In this case, a struggling addict trying to function in his day-to-day life. It's another marvellous and understated performance that garnered him a well deserved Oscar nomination - unlucky to lose out to Forest Whitaker's grandstanding in "The Last King of Scotland". This is a film of many layers, and writers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck cleverly introduce the theory of Dialectics - the process of change through opposing forces. Gosling and Epps - teacher and pupil - are exactly these opposing forces and only through each other will they ultimately find salvation. The first time I saw this, I enjoyed it for it's indie style but missed the depth it had and didn't really get what all the fuss was about. On second viewing though, it's quality really stands out. This is a nourishing and deliberately paced slice of life that's competently directed by Ryan Fleck in his first feature. A rapturous round of applause for all involved in this beautifully crafted and wonderfully acted gem.
Lady D

[My predicted rating: 3.5] Very drawn out, yet very gritty and real to life. Another superb intense performance from Gosling, who is fast becoming one of the best Hollywood Actors of today. The mood of the film is somewhat depressing, but it just reflects the reality of the… More
[My predicted rating: 3.5] Very drawn out, yet very gritty and real to life. Another superb intense performance from Gosling, who is fast becoming one of the best Hollywood Actors of today. The mood of the film is somewhat depressing, but it just reflects the reality of the circumstances and it really explores the depths of a strange relationship, which is close enough to make you feel uneasy watching it, yet on the flip side is a complete meeting of minds. Fantastic performance from Shareeka Epps, who we will no doubt see much more of in the future.
Dead A

Though I didn't find the story that much entertaining but I must say Ryan Gosling was great in here. My new fave actor. I'm really impressed with his performance over here.
Saskia D

Gosling just made it to my favorite actors list. There's something about him that captivates me. He's got that mischievous boyish charm about him, just like Sean Penn. His character reminded me a little about the guy he plays in Blue Valentine, which I absolutely loved. But… More
Gosling just made it to my favorite actors list. There's something about him that captivates me. He's got that mischievous boyish charm about him, just like Sean Penn. His character reminded me a little about the guy he plays in Blue Valentine, which I absolutely loved. But I know he can do more, because in Lars and the Real Girl he does something totally different. Anyway. I recommend this movie and if you haven't seen the other two movies, you should!
Shawn E

The majority of Half Nelson focus is on it's lead character; a history teacher and a functioning drug addict. Ryan Gosling's performance is undoubtedly great, but I think I would have liked to see more progression in the story rather than it's lead character.
Melvin W

Dan: Second chances are rare, man. You ought to take better advantage of them. Half Nelson is an above average drug-related film. The movie succeeds because of its performances. It doesn't have a complicated storyline or even a storyline to begin with. It's a story about a… More
Dan: Second chances are rare, man. You ought to take better advantage of them. Half Nelson is an above average drug-related film. The movie succeeds because of its performances. It doesn't have a complicated storyline or even a storyline to begin with. It's a story about a teacher who has a drug problem and that's all the plot you need when you can pull the performances out of the actors that we see here. The movie is subtly powerful. It never tries to hammer us over the head with it's powerfulness though. Unlike a lot of movies; we don't see the main character completely lose it and weep all over the place and vow to change his life and that's pretty refreshing. Like I said above, the performance in Half Nelson are really out of this world. Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps and Anthony Mackie. Gosling is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. His performance here as Dan Dunne, a history teacher with a crack problem, is definitely Oscar potential. It would have been a crime if he hadn't been nominated. His character has major problems, but we always see how good a person he is through his relationship with a student, Drey(Shareeka Epps). Epps also gives a magnificent performance. Her and Gosling's chemistry is off the charts and in the end is what makes the movie. If those two have bad chemistry; the movie would have been a total disaster. Then there's Anthony Mackie, who continues to be in good movie after good movie. He's not a lead actor, but he is always good in that supporting role. What your not going to get here is a fast moving, plot driven film. If that's what you want, don't watch it because your going to be disappointed. The movie is slow moving, as every character study is. Hence the word study. If you can sit through a slow moving movie and get something out of it, this is a great movie to watch. There's individual scenes with great power to them. If not for the movie itself, watch it for Ryan Gosling. He is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with.
Jens S

This drama tells the story of a drug-addict teacher and his growing friendship to a student who caught him doing drugs, while he is trying to make history interesting for the class. The film tries to draw a realistic image of the school situation in problematic inner cities. At the… More
This drama tells the story of a drug-addict teacher and his growing friendship to a student who caught him doing drugs, while he is trying to make history interesting for the class. The film tries to draw a realistic image of the school situation in problematic inner cities. At the same time it never gets really clear why our protagonist is doing drugs, considering his class is by far among the nicer ones of this movie genre. The pace of the film is rather tedious and there really isn't all that much happening. The feel of it is real, but there still could have been a bit more entertaining dialogs. The acting is top notch, though, especially Gosling and his young friend have a great chemistry. A small independent film that actually could have done with blowing itself a little bigger than it is. The way it is, it's a bit too forgettable.
Thomas J

I love Ryan Gosling, but fail to see what is interesting or entertaining about this story. Even without drug problems, my life would make a more interesting story! Why are stories about people with drug problems interesting? I do not get it!
Lorenzo v

"Secrets don't let go." An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret. <center>"Secrets don't let go." An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret. <center>REVIEW</center> Stark and riveting, "Half Nelson" proves we don't need 'reality' entertainment from Hollywood: this seems real enough. Junior High history teacher and girls' basketball coach Ryan Gosling crawls into a crack-clouded fog once he gets home; one of his inner-city students knows his secret, yet she is harboring troubles of her own. Gosling is inherently charismatic and intrinsically smart while working from a gut instinct, resulting in a performance that is constantly surprising, always unpredictable; as an actor, he is so focused (and brave) that we don't recoil from him even as his character is turned inside-out, showing us behavior that is hardly pretty. He may be the finest young actor of this new century--there isn't anyone else out there who can touch him. The supporting cast is equally strong, aided by an outstanding screenplay from Anna Boden and director Ryan Fleck, who shies away from both sentimentality and melodramatic sensationalism. "Half Nelson" is so good, critics run the risk of over-praising it. It is mainly a quiet movie, a character study in a lower key, and yet what we absorb from it can last for days.
Carlos M

An honest and outspoken portrayal of loneliness and a very interesting character study, Half Nelson is backed by powerful performances by Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps.
Dan S

A strong, quietly brilliant film detailing an unusual friendship between a drug-addicted teacher (Ryan Gosling) and one of his students (Shareeka Epps). What elevates this from a standard drama concerning friendship is two extremely courageous and hard-hitting performances from both… More
A strong, quietly brilliant film detailing an unusual friendship between a drug-addicted teacher (Ryan Gosling) and one of his students (Shareeka Epps). What elevates this from a standard drama concerning friendship is two extremely courageous and hard-hitting performances from both Gosling and Epps. Both are simply sensational. The ending will undoubtedly leave you depressed, since the movie does an outstanding job sucking you in to both characters lives. The violation of some norms in dramas like this also works out beautifully, as director Ryan Fleck constructs a fascinating film with a big heart.
Anthony L

A film with a strong message that never becomes preachy. Gosling is fantastic in the lead and Fleck does a good job directing. This film also features one of the most moving scenes in recent cinema. Destined to be a classic and rightfully so!
Eliza N

Well......If any girl thinks that could have Ryan Gosling for teacher and not being fallen in love with him ,she definitly has to watch this movie .Ok , this is not the reason why you have to watch this movie but the realistic elements and the happy end that does not exist ,can be… More
Well......If any girl thinks that could have Ryan Gosling for teacher and not being fallen in love with him ,she definitly has to watch this movie .Ok , this is not the reason why you have to watch this movie but the realistic elements and the happy end that does not exist ,can be a motive .
E.J. B

The film is a depiction of friendship. There isn't much in the way of plot, so if that's your thing, you'll love it.
Jani H

"Man... I'm sweating like George Bush on Judgment Day." Ryan Gosling, whom I consider to be one of the most talented young actors of today, plays Dan Dunne, a drug addicted teacher. I liked the way how Dan inspires his students to think independently. He doesn't… More
"Man... I'm sweating like George Bush on Judgment Day." Ryan Gosling, whom I consider to be one of the most talented young actors of today, plays Dan Dunne, a drug addicted teacher. I liked the way how Dan inspires his students to think independently. He doesn't teach them by the book, so in a way you could call his methods a bit unorthodox. "Half Nelson" is and was Ryan Gosling's breakthrough role. The way he brings this complex character to life, is simply astonishing. He is just another average fellow who got "lost". Shareeka Epps, a very talented young actor, plays Drey. She is the one thing that gives Dan some hope in life. She delivers a very solid performance and I'm sure that we'll hear from her in the future. "Half Nelson" avoids the clichès of the school related films. The films dialogue is realistic and gives the viewer some really interesting aspects about life. This film will be remembered by Gosling's performance and is highly recommended to all that enjoy a good indie flick.
Derek D

Ryan Gosling gave an Oscar-nominated performance as Daniel Dunn, an inner-city history teacher fighting his own personal demons while forming a friendship with a girl in his class. This movie, even moreso than Fracture, really showed how great of an actor Gosling really is. Combine… More
Ryan Gosling gave an Oscar-nominated performance as Daniel Dunn, an inner-city history teacher fighting his own personal demons while forming a friendship with a girl in his class. This movie, even moreso than Fracture, really showed how great of an actor Gosling really is. Combine this with incredible natural perfomances from Mackie and Epps and an almost perfect musical score by Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene and this was certainly movie of the year quality!