Sunday, July 29, 2007

Pot for teacher: "Half Nelson"

OK, so the guy actually does coke and crack instead of pot. Still, I couldn't resist.

Today's discussion topic: Ryan Gosling.

It's hard to figure out how I feel about this guy. On one hand, it seems like he's been around a while and is generally annoying. Yet I have no basis for such an estimation, since (a) he really hasn't been in that many movies and (b) I had never seen one of his movies all the way through until "Half Nelson."

Yeah, it's kind of weird. I think I saw a scene or two of "Murder by Numbers," and I know I caught a bit of "The Slaughter Rule" -- heard it was filmed in Montana and was curious about the scenery -- but that's it. So why the annoyance? Beats me, especially since I now see what young Ryan can do.

You may remember Gosling as one of the also-rans in this year's Best Acting Oscar competition, where everyone played for second behind Forest Whitaker. In "Nelson," Gosling is a Brooklyn junior high school teacher who seems to get along with the kids well enough. Unfortunately, he gets along with what Sinny Crockett called "Bolivian nasal dust" even better. That's right, Mr. Dunne is a coke addict. Smokes crack, too. Even worse, one of his students catches him doing the deed. Not exactly what you want coming up at the next PTA meeting, is it?

The story revolves around Gosling's muddled life -- trying to inspire students while at the same time seeking comfort in drugs. He's pretty much a mess, and most of the world is moving on without him. Except, as it turns out, the student who caught him. She's got her own issues of being torn in a couple of different directions, and she and Teach become friends. Awwwww ...

It's really not all that sweet ... heck, it almost seemed real, if you didn't think too much about why on earth a 13-year-old black girl and messed-up white guy in his late 20s would hang around together. To the movie's credit, neither person really knows how to "save" the other. Instead, we see how their hearts are in the right place but the minds aren't as willing.

It's a tricky deal, especially for a movie that apparently was shot in only 23 days. Whoa. But Gosling is pretty solid -- from the classroom to the basketball court to the bars to his parents house. His character clearly is lost, which isn't such a great thing for a teacher. I might have liked to see more explanation for how the guy got to this point, but that's a quibble.

As for the title, well, you got me. I know what a half nelson is, but there certainly wasn't any obvious connection between the wrestling hold and this story. Maybe the teacher and the student are just stuck in the half nelson of life. Maybe being addicted to drugs is like having an arm pinned behind your head. Maybe a scene with Gosling dancing around in a singlet was left on the cutting room floor.

3 Comments:

At 12:59 AM, Blogger Reese said...

hiya jefferson,

i felt this movie and this performance was pretty overrated. maybe it was must overhyped or something. I mean it was okay. kinda.

i never pay attention to the character's arc or any of that; I'm usually just impressed by little details, like a gesture or facial expression that you would expect or that seems unique. A small detail like that can completely effect the way you view the character and the entire story.

if a movie has even one little detail like that, then I'll consider it a good movie and i'll watch it like 8 times.

P.S. (completely unrelated, but) RIP Ingmar Bergman

Ciao

 
At 1:27 PM, Blogger Jefferson said...

Good point, but I'd argue that Gosling's performance had some of those details. The classroom scenes, for instance. Some pretty realistic interactions and reactions when it came to the kids. And the scene where he tries to confront the drug dealer but doesn't really know what to do. Thought that was well done -- a big departure from the "Criminal Minds" ilk, as it were.

 
At 3:18 PM, Blogger Denise said...

I never get to watch movies anymore, but I will say this. Ryan Gosling is hot.

 

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