User Reviews

Half Nelson. The only thing that makes you happy. A very controversial film about a schoolteacher (performed by Ryan Gosling) for whom life seems to go downhill and down the mountain and the only meaning of life remains illegal substances and teaching middle school students. But after a while, a new goal appears in his life - a student of Drey, whose life already at the age of 13 seems cut short and the future does not inspire any prospects. These two heroes will have to help each other. Much of the film undeniably hinges on Ryan Gosling's acting. He perfectly showed all the pain and suffering of his character. Maybe some didn't like it, but I was very impressed with the cinematography.

I like the concept of this film - somewhat of a role reversal, with the white teacher being in a not great lifestyle situation and looking to the students he teaches, from the projects, to not give away his secret or even for help or motivation, to an extent (rather than it being the blonde white bombshell coming in to teach the inner city kids out of poverty or whatever). Ryan Reynolds gives a fairly decent performance and it seems pretty believable, even if there are some plot holes. It doesn't entirely work but its a pretty good attempt at an interesting story. There's some fairly shaky camerawork at times that might irritate you a bit and its not perfect but its ok, so I'd maybe cautiously recommend this film, yes.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

screeches onto one's heart through ethereal morale.. Half Nelson The premise is way too practical to breed the crisp out of the script and the makers being aware of it doesn't spend time on it and instead focuses on its meticulous yet bold character's that helps flow the process smoothly without any friction. There is a nerving sensibility pulsating behind the screen throughout the course of the feature, which builds itself up to this hegemony of dramatic conflicts that starts begging the existence of the character's purpose which communicates and connects immensely with the viewers. It is short on technical aspects like sound department and editing, although is beautifully shot with amazing camera work. Ryan Fleck; the director, has done a tremendous work on executing the anticipated vision and creating a perfect arc for the protagonist that even though is predictable, is certifiably entertaining and electrifying. The performance objective is in safe hands of Ryan Gosling who pulls it off brilliantly as a questionable and not-at-all-lovable character that sweats and struggles, creating a much larger impact on the audience. Half Nelson screeches onto one's heart through ethereal morale by shifting the seats and depicting each individual's perspective that all culminates into one big hug for the viewers, actors, makers and society that connects it all.

Half Baked. Ryan Gosling is absolutely incredible in his role, as is the young lady who stars alongside him, but the story often feels very rote, and there's not much resolution to really satisfy the viewer.

The film itself consists of a very simple plot but it delivers the level of emotions that are so heart-wrenching for the audiences. While our two main characters try to connect with one another, existing barriers prevent them from really understand or shape each other's behavior until they realize that both of them should be there for each other rather than avoiding the fact that they need to act responsibly.

Ryan Gosling is a great actor and he proves it once again with Half Nelson. The acting was overall good. and the story was **** was maybe a little bit too long for it's own good and it may be quite boring at times but, it's still a good movie.

A great indie character study, Half Nelson paints a heartbreaking picture of two people from different worlds that find themselves in tough times. Together, they rely on one another with mutual respect and compassion. Without one another, who knows what would become of them. Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps turn in very good performances here in this really sad and moving film. Well-written and well-directed, Half Nelson does a great job creating multidimensional characters that help to bring their stories to life. With good pacing, it really keeps your attention as you watch these two fall down the rabbit hole into more and more trouble. Plus, I really like the ending. Will they change? Will they stay the same? It is up to you based on what you know of these characters and I enjoyed that ambiguity. Overall, Half Nelson is an engaging and realistic film of addiction in the inner city.

Some may call this Ryan Gosling's breakthrough performance--it's revolutionary and I agree undoubtedly. This sad but touching tale of friendship exceeds expectation.

Excellent acting all round. Two unlikely people come together: a teacher who can't find any meaning in his life and a young girl who has seen all the male figures in her life disappoint her. It's sounds far-fetched, but it's surprisingly realistic. It's slow, but its worth seeing.

A bland soup of smug. As edgy as a satsuma and embarrassingly reverent. Half Nelson flogs a dead horse into a cliche paste. Ryan Gosling smoulders vacantly, as he is wont to do.

A fantastic movie that has the patience to let the characters develop from beginning to end. The start of the movie is Ryan Gosling. An Oscar should be store for him after this superb performance.

Ryan Gosling manages to give us one of his best performances as the protagonist ****, that must be hard to pull off. haha. There really isn't much story but in a sense that makes it all the more realistic to me. A lot of movies exaggerate reality to make it more exciting which is certainly okay sometimes. The one critic that gave it a bad score on this site said that the classroom scenes are just filler. It's a movie about a basehead who has no friends and along the way becomes close with/looks out for one of his students. So the classroom scenes are filler huh? Well all he does is get high and teach so there's not really more of his life to be on film plus don't we need to see the way he interacts with his students to get to know more about his relationship with drey? Kyle Smith of the New York Post, I know being a critic is a hard job because it's just opinions but come on man, that is just ridiculous.

One of my favorite movies! It is fresh, non-cliche, indie and touching at the same time. Ryan Gosling's performance is phenomenal, I'd say the best among all his other movies. I like how innocent and genuine Epps' performance was as well. Breath-taking! Characters are beautifully portrayed.

A close to perfect film with a wonderful acting job from Ryan Gosling. He's turning into one of the great actors from this generation.

Half Nelson may not be as edgy and complex as it sees itself, but it is still a tough little film about the opposing forces constantly at work within each of us and the struggles we face to change. It also benefits from a strong performance by Ryan Gosling.

Another clichÃ-ridden generic drug-related high school movie. The only positive is Gosling's acting, if only the script was worthy of his casting....

A superbly acted,character-driven film,it's incredibly unsentimental and always moving.Ryan Gosling is scarily good. Shareeka Epps' performance is surprisingly mature and compelling.Fully satisfying drama.