Half Nelson (2006)

I write these posts with little thought to spoilers. Beware.

Ryan Gosling is both charming and tragic as he stumbles through his own life and the lives of his students

Synopsis: A Brooklyn teacher struggles with his own ambition to help his students, his own inability to respect school authority and his own loneliness. Oh, and a fair number of crack-induced hangovers.

Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is remarkably aware of the world, yet surprisingly lacking in self awareness. He’s instantly admirable in his history classroom, trying to teach his students to think about the subject in both a broader and deeper sense. He’s by far the coolest teacher in school, and I only wish I could have had him at some point.

But in his personal life, he trips from one misfortune or bad decision to the next. I’m usually not a fan of stories where people do things, and regardless whether they’re good or bad things, bad things happen. But Dan is so ignorant to how his actions are influencing his life, that it becomes easy to forgive him his sins (which are pretty substantial). In every moment he’s trying to do his best, but he has absolutely no sense of how to combat the loneliness he feels.

Dan (Gosling) forms an important friendship with one of his students (Shareeka Epps), which probably ends up saving him from his imminent breakdown

The movie is big on showing and not telling. Much of what we know about the characters’ backstories is learned through inference. What we’re left to infer about Dan is that he got a very thorough and mind-broadening liberal education in college. And now, with his critical and somewhat negative world view, he feels isolated from the people around him who don’t seem to care. He has essentially made himself a bottomless-pit of loneliness…getting lonelier as the movie progresses.

The movie deals with each of its issues gently – especially the story line of Drey, a thirteen year old girl figuring out what it means to grow up. And while many of the scenes are intense, few if any are ham-handed or melodramatic. The movie paints a bleak picture of mental isolation and of how easy it is to make poor choices. But it also speaks to the difficulties and the importance of forming real connections with people. Critics said this movie was bleak but inspiring. It’s no Miracle, but somehow in the face of depressing constancies, the movie does manage to leave us with hope for Dan – and for ourselves.

Takeaway quote: The sun goes up and then it comes down, but every time that happens, what do you get? You get a new day. – Dan Dunne to his middle school history class (and to himself)