Half Nelson

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Half Nelson

R

Released Jan 23, 2006

1h 46m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

91%

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157 Reviews

82%

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50,000+ Ratings

Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is a history teacher at a Brooklyn school. Though well-liked by his students and colleagues, he secretly spends his evenings hopping bars and getting high. A female student named Drey (Shareeka Epps) catches him in a drug-induced haze after a basketball game, and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. As Dan struggles with his addiction, he tries to act as a mentor to the girl, whose brother is serving time for dealing drugs.

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Critics Consensus

Half Nelson features powerful performances from Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps. It's a wise, unsentimental portrait of lonely people at the crossroads.

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Sandra Hall

Sydney Morning Herald

It's hardly a film which trumpets its virtues but that's part of the pleasure to be had from it. It doesn't know how good it is.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 27, 2007

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Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

It's impressively adult, sure-footed filmmaking, and that Best Actor nod was definitely deserved.

Apr 20, 2007

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Andrew Pulver

Guardian

Dunne [Gosling] is an enjoyable and impressive creation, justifiably recognised with an Oscar nomination for Gosling earlier this year.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 20, 2007

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Jae-Ha Kim

Jae-Ha Kim

Bleakly filmed and well told, "Half Nelson" soars because of the immaculate acting by Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps. Gosling's both alluring and pitiful as an addict, while Epps hits all the right notes as a child who's seen too much hardship.

Rated: 3/4

Jul 26, 2023

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Kathy Fennessy

Seattle Film Blog

...the final scene is so lovely--so subtle, yet funny--that it makes up for any missteps that have come before it.

Rated: 4/4

Sep 16, 2021

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PJ Nabarro

Patrick Nabarro

The more interesting aspects of the film come in its less pre-determined margins. And maybe the drama is highly strategised, but the acting is real and genuine.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 22, 2021

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Faiz D

An intelligent drama film. Ryan Gosling was extremely impressive.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/29/24

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Patrick D

3.75. Is Gosling one of my favorite actors at this point? Guy has consistently delivered for years.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/25/24

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Dionisis T

We've all seen a movie solely because an actor is in it...to me this movie is just that thing with Ryan Gosling

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/23/24

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Timothy D

Half Nelson immediately sinks its way into your heart. It's mature and deep as it explores human weakness and the desire to do good. Gosling and Epps are a magical acting pair as they play each other's strengths with an older, struggling person trying to help and young, strong person. It's pure and sincere. The film ends openly, but the humanity it conveyed is a piece of indie film gold.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/03/23

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Maz B

Yes the acting is great and there are some popular actors in this, but I found myself scrolling through my phone. It wasn't what I expected. It was ok, but pretty boring.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/05/23

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Alice B

Excellent performances all round, but ..... Shareeka Epps, Ryan Gosling and Anthony Mackie are all brilliant in their roles. The characters didn't do what I expect them to, and by that I mean that they behaved in a way that real, unpredicatble, and complicated human beings do, rather than in the way that hollywood has taught us to expect characters to act. It wasn't predicable and formulaic. However, I am only giving 2.5 stars because I couldn't maintain any sympathy or continue to care about our main character Danny (Ryan Gosling) for the second half of the film, after he sexual assaults a woman he had been casually seeing. When she punches him and locks herself in her room he whines though the door to her that he forgives her and has no hard feelings. What the fuck. Perhaps it is realisitic and perhaps we are not meant to feel any compassion for Danny beyond this point but he never gets punished or shows any remorse for the behaviour, in fact we never see or hear from the woman again. So it feel more like its a bit of casual sexual violence that we aren't meant to put too much thought into. Disappointing.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

08/07/23

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Ryan Fleck

Director

Ryan Gosling

Dan Dunne

Shareeka Epps

Drey

Anthony Mackie

Frank

Deborah Rush

Jo

Jay O. Sanders

Russ

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Synopsis

Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is a history teacher at a Brooklyn school. Though well-liked by his students and colleagues, he secretly spends his evenings hopping bars and getting high. A female student named Drey (Shareeka Epps) catches him in a drug-induced haze after a basketball game, and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. As Dan struggles with his addiction, he tries to act as a mentor to the girl, whose brother is serving time for dealing drugs.

Director: Ryan Fleck
Producer: Anna Boden, Lynette Howell Taylor, Rosanne Korenberg, Alex Orlovsky, Jamie Patricof
Screenwriter: Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden
Production Co: Journeyman Pictures, Silverwood Films, Hunting Lane Films
Rating: R (Language|Drug Content Throughout|Some Sexuality)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 23, 2006, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Aug 11, 2006
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 15, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.7M
Runtime: 1h 46m

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