Half Nelson

Half Nelson
Sunday, January 21st - 7 & 9:30 pm - 106 mins.
Newcomb Hall Theatre
Dir. Ryan Fleck - USA, 2006

Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is an inner-city teacher balancing addiction and education in director Ryan Fleck's debut feature film. Dunne's engaging classroom presence jolts his students out of the same disillusioned stupor he craves in his drug-fueled nightlife. When Dunne's habit begins to bleed over into his daytime hours, a troubled student (Shareeka Epps) catches him semi-conscious and clutching a crack pipe, and the bond that forms leads to a uniquely difficult friendship. Half Nelson "is that rarest of marvels - an American fiction film that wears its political heart on its sleeve. What makes Half Nelson both an unusual and an exceptional American film...is its insistence on political consciousness as a moral imperative." (Mahnola Dargis, New York Times)

For the trailer, press information, background on the film check out the Half Nelson Website

Click HERE to read a review of Half Nelson by Jonathan Rosenbaum in the Chicago Reader