‘The only constant is change…’
Drug addiction onscreen is tricky. While Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream are both rightly praised for being a gritty, authentic portrayal of addiction, it is also true that they represent the more extreme end of the scale. In reality, there are addicts everywhere and in every walk of life. Some of them are (barely) functioning, some of them aren’t, some of them oscillate between those two precarious positions seemingly on a whim. Half Nelson explores the quiet anguish of a functioning drug addict and it does so in a way that marks it out from every other film about addiction out there…
We join the action in medias res with Ryan Gosling’s charismatic but volatile history teacher Dan Dunne on the verge of a breakdown. The film begins with the brutal sound of a morning alarm clock before we see Dunne recovering from a night spent snorting cocaine alone. Despite this, he still manages to haul himself into work and do his job to an acceptable level. As the film goes on, Dunne’s drug use becomes more and more out of control until he is eventually caught smoking crack by Drey (Shareeka Epps) – a tough street kid with an absent father and a workaholic mother. Drey has links to a local drug dealer (Anthony Mackie) through her older brother Mike (Collins Pennie). From there we see Dunne and Drey attempt to reach an uneasy understanding about what each of them knows about the other.
This is not just a film about addiction. Writer-director team Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (since recruited by Marvel) also tackle themes of race, class, family and the education system. One excruciating scene in which Dunne returns to his family home for a celebratory dinner makes an excellent point about acceptable addiction. Addiction is fine in the eyes of society if it’s a white, middle-class family drinking wine – not so much if it’s a black guy smoking crack. None of this is heavy-handed. Indeed, it is only on repeated viewings that the layers that make up this movie are revealed. It’s a stunning directorial debut that is carried by an exceptional performance from Gosling. It was so good in fact that despite being a relative unknown at the time, Gosling was nominated for Best Actor at the 2007 Oscars, scandalously losing out to Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland. Gosling’s portrayal of addiction is utterly convincing and totally raw. It’s in the mannerisms. The way he constantly wipes his mouth. The way he doesn’t know what to do with his hands when they are not occupied with racking up lines. It’s a masterful performance and it remains Gosling’s best work despite the stellar career he has enjoyed since. Mackie too is excellent, bringing an unlikely warmth to a character who is ultimately a manipulative drug dealer. But that is partly the point that Fleck and Boden are making here. None of these characters are good or bad. They are complex. They fuck up. And while there are some real bleak moments in this film there is also just enough hope to ensure that it isn’t solely a nihilistic venture.
Despite Gosling’s Oscar nom, huge critical acclaim and the fact that it made over four times its budget at the box office, Half Nelson remains underappreciated by the public at large. I have recommended this film to so many people and I don’t know anyone that has watched it. Let me sing it from the rooftops here. This film is a masterpiece. Gosling is incredible. If you have a heart beating in your chest, this is the film for you. Watch it immediately. All this and I haven’t even mentioned Shareeka Epps. She is simply divine here. She matches Gosling every step of the way. Man, do I love this movie.