Half Nelson

An inner-city teacher struggling with addiction forms an unlikely bond with a young student who catches him in a compromising position in director Ryan Fleck's feature-length adaptation of his own award-winning short film Gowanus, Brooklyn. Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill ...more

Ever since Blackboard Jungle, there has periodically appeared in American movies the story of a headstrong teacher taking on an inner-city school and whipping his or her students into shape, employing either militaristic tough love or a mushy appeal to the delinquents' artistic hearts. Half Nelson can't help but recall some of the more questionable "white savior saves black kids" elements of the genre in its story of an earnest, idealistic young man, Dan (Ryan Gosling), coaching basketball and ...more