The FiFi Report 167

Half Nelson… Directed by Ryan Fleck
Based on: A sad story
Genre: Dramas, Drug Dealers, Friendships, Teachers, Students. Losers.
Who: Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie, Tina Holmes
The Plot: America 2006. Young white guy is teacher at black school. Is depressed. Takes drugs. Cat dies. Takes drugs. Girlfriend marries someone else. Takes drugs. Parents get pissed. Takes drugs. Is paranoid. Takes drugs. Is lonely. Sniffs drugs. Befriends young black student. Gets discovered taking drugs. He gets more depressed. You get depressed. He takes more drugs. You need them after sitting through this. The end. Thank God.
Acting: Ryan Gosling was up for an Oscar for this performance. ‘An opportunity to marvel, once again, at the dazzling talent of Ryan Gosling ”Entertainment Weekly
Photography: Swaying hand held camera make you feel slightly sea sick.
Design: Grubby Suburban America. There is nothing pretty here. At all.
Wardrobe: Ditto
Salon de Beaute: They need it.
Botox: You want to drink it
Smokin’ smooches: You will insist on them when you get home
Waterproof Mascara: You will be crying over the waste of 1½ hours
Blood ’n’ Guts: Unfortunately blood n guts would improve the film
Mind drifted to shopping: In every scene. Why? To overcome the depression
Car chases: Yes. You racing home escaping the cinema
Rename It: Half cooked.
Movie Mistake #1: That the film was ever made.
Best Reviews:” the scalding talents of the moody, introspective young actor Ryan Gosling are sharply focused in Half Nelson, elevating an otherwise slight and depressingly offbeat film high above the realm of the ordinary with blast-furnace force.”New York Observer
Best Worst Reviews: “Mostly, we just watch the teacher get high, and his classroom talks about civil rights are nothing but filler." New York Post
“Looks to me like a self conscious film that thrives on its own negativity. Studied, anti-establishment, arthouse cinema that gloats over its moral superiority which is rather ironic” Urban Cinefile
“This is the usual waste of celluloid ” Greenwich Village Gazette
See it or donate to the Prada Bag fund? Buy the bag. In fact buy 2.
http://www.halfnelsonthefilm.com