Half Nelson

ExtremeSleuth

ExtremeSleuth

Veteran
just got to check out Half Nelson. when the Oscar nominations came out and Ryan Gosling was nominated for best actor, i was like "what the f**k? the guy from the notebook?!?"... wow. i was wrong. this is one of the best performances of last year. honestly IMO Forest Whitaker was more of a supporting role in Last King, and out of the other nominees, I believe that Gosling should have won.... (if DiCaprio were nominated for Departed, I may say otherwise). Well, to me it's a toss up still between Gosling and Smith (pursuit of happyness was a damn good movie)
 
Half Nelson was amazing and Ryan Gosling was incredible. Thanks for reminding me that I need to own that movie.
 
as much as i love half nelson, and gosling's performance, i totally forgot that Ken Watanabe shoulda won for Letters From Iwo Jima (my personal fave of last year)

but outta who was actually nominated, Gosling for me.
 
I've seen it three times, and will no doubt watch it again. Feels like am early 70's film.
I also love Broken Social Scene so....
 
What was so awesome about Half Nelson? It was the slowest, dullest most contrived piece of crap I've seen in a long, long time. One of the worst movies I've EVER seen. His acting is spot on though.
 
Phil Maker said:
What was so awesome about Half Nelson? It was the slowest, dullest most contrived piece of crap I've seen in a long, long time. One of the worst movies I've EVER seen. His acting is spot on though.
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to each his own, but i find these small (yet emotionally epic) stories more compelling and resonant than your more conventional studio pictures. for me, it's finding something meaningful in the seemingly mundane, it's not supplanting the characters' humanity with concessions to the plot. this is what i look for in my personal cinematic experiences. it speaks to me on an emotional and intellectual wavelength to which i've grown sensitive. how you saw this as film as contrived, i'm not sure. because for me, it was the lack of making those concessions to plot that really made an impact on me.

and in my opinion, "slowness", in a temporal art form is an aesthetic quality, a layer, not a flaw.
 
Slowest = boring as hell. Contrived = not realistic. Crack heads don't take a hit and lay down on the bathroom floor waiting for their (conveniently) black girl student to catch them. The filmmaker's depiction of a crack addict was innacurate. It was not entertaining. On any level. But different strokes for different folks.
 
If I was a film teacher and had to teach DOF and symbolism I would show my students "Half Nelson". I don't think people really realize what contemporary master piece this movie really is. DOF is used with such symbolism, and every shot has a point (they it should always be).
 
Phil Maker said:
Slowest = boring as hell. Contrived = not realistic. Crack heads don't take a hit and lay down on the bathroom floor waiting for their (conveniently) black girl student to catch them. The filmmaker's depiction of a crack addict was innacurate. It was not entertaining. On any level. But different strokes for different folks.
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heh, heh.. what part was convenient? that she was black? is that what you meant? probably not, but that's how it read. :) anyway, i've known a few degenerate drug addicts in my time... hell, from 2002-2004, i was one. and i found gosling's performance of the addict's internal world absolutely credible. as a privileged white guy who could afford his drug problem, i saw a lot of myself up there on-screen. notably, during that time I spent an extraordinary amount of time ducking into bathrooms -- both in public and my own at home. didn't find his hiding there contrived at all. if her showing up there is what bothered you, I think you're being exceptionally hard on this one. imo.
 
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The camerawork got to me on this one. All of the handheld stuff with the really shallow DOF gave me a headache. I loved the performances in this though and the sets were great. The story never really hit with me but it was still a good film.
 
Good point Zak. Addicts often keep that part of their life as extremely private as possible, unless another addict is willing to use with them, or they don't see a problem with themselves. Showing it to others would mean they are comfortable with themselves and their habit, and not ashamed. You could even say that addicts secretly want to be caught deep down, so that they can address the issue for correction.

Gosling's character thought that the school was empty of children and he was in a "safe" place to use. He was definitely being careless by using at school, but I think that shows how desperate his addiction is, and it also sets the story for how his idealism is colliding with reality.

Addicts get caught all the time, and I can imagine that it is an emotionally shameful event that can maybe lead to admitting certain things to yourself. I don't understand why it would be percieved as contrived for this scene is the collision that changes both characters' fate, and ultimately, what the whole movie is about.
 
Gosling is going to be, when all is said and done, the Paul Newman of his generation. If only he gets good material.

I met the filmmakers of Half Nelson when they opened the IFFBoston 2 years ago. It was an extension of a short film that had done well. It really is an inspirational story of filmmakers getting their shot and nailing it.
 
honestly IMO Forest Whitaker was more of a supporting role in Last King, and out of the other nominees, I believe that Gosling should have won
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couldn't agree more. gosling was amazing. of course i'm biased but i think half nelson should have been nominated for best picture. the departed was good but best picture? anywhoo half nelson was the best film i've watched since the proposition
 
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