Director Report Card: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (2006)

If you hadn't noticed, I've been taking an extremely long-winded and out-of-order journey through the Marvel Cinematic Universe this year. This trip has seen me encountering filmmakers I probably never would've talked about otherwise. Originally, I had only planned on including a one-off review of "Captain Marvel." But, ya know, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden seem like pretty interesting filmmakers. Even though I was completely unfamiliar with the rest of their output, I've decided to give it a shot and treat them to the full Director Report Card experience. Hopefully I don't regret this!

1. Half Nelson

For about a decade now, Ryan Gosling has occupied the rare position of being both the critically acclaimed star of buzz-worthy independent films as well as a mainstream sex symbol, appearing in big budget romantic comedies and action movies. It's a fine line that Gosling has proven incredibly adapt at walking, operating with both humor and just the right degree of mysteriousness. (And he also, of course, has a vanity project rock band.) Though Gosling probably would've become a huge star even without it, the actor's true breakthrough was 2006's “Half Nelson,” for which he'd receive his first Oscar nomination. The film was also the feature debut of Ryan Fleck, after making a number of documentary shorts. Though Fleck received sole credit on “Half Nelson,” it's widely accepted to be part of his partnership with Anna Boden, as she co-wrote, produced, and edited the film.

Our setting is a poor high school in Brooklyn. Mr. Dunne teaches history to an apathetic class of kids with more serious problems. Like Drey, a thirteen year old girl currently torn between her paramedic mom and her drug-dealer dad. But Mr. Dunne has problems of his own. While he grapples with his goal of teaching the kids philosophy and making the world a better place, he's also a drug addict. When Drey catches him smoking crack after a basketball game, the two form a special bond.

“Half Nelson” is a movie about a lot of important, real world shit. But because I'm primarily a movie nerd, I'm most interested in it as a brutal deconstruction of the inspirational teacher genre. Mr. Dunne certainly seems like the kind of teacher who would inspire a class of disinterested, social immobile, inner city kids. He rejects the structural rigid systems imposed on him by the school system, in favor of breaking the rules and really blowing the kids' minds. However, we quickly learn that Dunne is far from inspirational. Ultimately, it's one of his students that save him, not the other way around. That the teacher is white and the majority of his classroom is black is surely intentional as well, the film intentionally taking shots at the white savior narrative Hollywood is so fond of.

“Half Nelson” is, perhaps, most compelling for its portrayal of addiction. Dunne has noble qualities. He really does want to help the kids in his class and Drey especially, whom he rightly recognizes as special. But, like most addicts, Dunne is ultimately not able to deal with certain emotions. He claims his drug use is under control, during a hook-up with a random woman. So why does he feel the need to dose up after encountering his ex-girlfriend – who has completely pulled her life together – or an incredibly awkward dinner with his mom? He hits rock bottom when an attempted booty-call with his quasi-girlfriend turns into a near assault, a crime the film perhaps forgives him for a little too easily. Yet, even after that, it's clear that Dunne's journey to sobriety is far complete. He has a long road ahead of him and may never make it.

“Half Nelson” also feels like two movies sometimes. When not focused on Mr. Dunne's struggles with addiction, the film functions as a slice-of-life story about a teenage girl growing up in a divided family in a poor neighborhood. Her mother is a positive influence but also works a hard, demanding job that frequently keeps her away from home. Her father, meanwhile, is a drug dealer that seems eager to recruit her daughter to his empire. Drey doesn't get much out of school either, despite Mr. Dunne's best efforts. She's torn between these influences, trying to forge her own path with few easy or right chooses before her.

The film clearly has a lot of ideas in its mind. Dunne is trying to instruct his students in dialectical materialism, even writing a book for teenagers on the subject. I'll admit, that's a particular philosophy I'm not horribly familiar with. College was a long time ago, you guys. Yet I think this relates to the movie's ideas about opposites. Dunne repeatedly tries to explain to his class that western society is obsessed with the concept of division. That some things are good and some things are bad. Yet he hopes to inform them that other philosophies around the world account for the complexity of human nature, how one person can sum up two ideas. Clearly, this relates to the film's story, of a honorable teacher who is also a drug addict, of a morally ambiguous protagonist trying to live in two worlds at once.

Perhaps another aspect of the film that connects to this philosophy, that goes completely over my head, is references to America's long history of historical atrocities. The school principal wants Mr. Dunne to teach kids a long lesson plan concerning race, touching upon Brown vs. the Board of Education and Martin Luther King. Throughout the film, the students speak directly to the camera. They talk about Harvey Milk, the Attica prison riots, and the CIA-backed military coup in Chile. During his drug-fueled hook-up with a stranger, Dunne starts rambling about George W. Bush and the War in Iraq. How do these repeated references to America's less-than-spotless human rights record connect to the rest of the film's themes? I'm not sure they do and I wonder why they were included, in what is otherwise a fairly intimate story and not historical events.

“Half Nelson” probably sounds like a really dark drama. And it is pretty heavy. Yet there are little moments of humor in the film that keep it from being totally depressing. After an all-night bender, Dunne comes into the high school and proceeds to empty an entire coffee pot into his mug, while dryly staring the man down. Later, a supposedly improvised moment has Gosling picking up a stray cat and nearly walking into a house with it, being rebuffed at the last minute. The awkwardness of his Dunne's dinner with his family frequently creates nervous laughter of a sort, especially his asshole step-dad being mildly racist. Lastly, the teacher's interaction with his favorite student has a soft humor that I can appreciate. Such as a conversation they have in his car after a disastrous basketball game or the moment that concludes the film.

As a vehicle for Ryan Gosling, “Half Nelson” certainly shows off its leading man's ability. Gosling's trademark – a stoic melancholy – gets a real work-out here. Most notably during a sequence where Dunne meets in a park with his ex-girlfriend, whose success he quietly envies. Gosling has multiple moments where he stares forward in contemplation of where his life has gone wrong. Sometimes when puffing on a crack pipe. Yet that's a perhaps superficial reading of Gosling's ability. He shows a lot of range here. Whether it's rambling wildly after snorting some blow or showing off his charm while interacting with the kids, Gosling proves himself to be a versatile performer.

But Gosling is a movie star, so you expect big things of him. What of the complete unknown who co-stars as Drey? That would be Shareeka Epps. Epps gives a naturalistic performance. She rebuffs her mom's attempt to communicate before giving in with a slight smile. While her friends gossip about boys, she has bigger things on her mind. Epps says a lot with a look, conveying deeper emotion with simply a turn of her head or her body language. Her best scene comes when she faces down a bully, intimidating him largely with a steely gaze. It's an impressive debut from such a young performer. Epps has done a little bit of acting since this, most notably in cheesy horror flicks like “Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem” and “My Soul to Take,” but disappointingly hasn't appeared on film since 2013.

Stuck on most DVD covers of “Half Nelson” is another familiar face. Anthony Mackie, years before being launched to superhero stardom, appears as Frank, Drey's father. Mackie strikes an interesting balance between being an unscrupulous underworld figure and being a charming, easy-going father. One can easily see why this combination would be unsettling for a mother. I also like Monique Gariela Cumen as Isabel, who briefly dates Dunne. The two share a genuinely erotic love scene, with Cumen having a decent, easy-going chemistry with Gosling. (Not that it's especially hard for anyone to have chemistry with Ryan Gosling.)

If there's anything about “Half Nelson” that I didn't especially care for, it's the film's visual design. Fleck shot the movie with largely handheld cameras. The result is that many scenes have an unfocused and shaky look to them. Yes, this does fit the movie's gritty, on-the-ground style. However, it's also super distracting. The camera will shake while characters are talking or drift out of focus during other conversations. In these moment, it feels like the direction is drawing too much attention to itself. Personally speaking, years of watching shitty action or horror movies that employ this style has made me instinctively hate it.

That aside, “Half Nelson” is a pretty good movie. It's one of these films that I've heard about for years, an indie darling that deserved to be sought out. For whatever reason, I never got around to it before now. Maybe it's because of the cryptic title, which is apparently some sort of wrestling maneuver. No, I don't know how that relates to the story either. While I can't be as rapturous in my praise as many others, as I found the film a little self-congratulatory in its ideas, it's still a wonderful acted motion picture with some very clever concepts that it executes well. [Grade: B]