In life people, the majority of people cannot be painted with broad brush strokes. Individuals are not completely sinners or saints. There is a gray area where "good" people make bad decisions and "bad" people make good decisions. Now I'm sure most of you readers already realize this obvious fact, but it is often easy to forget. We frequently judge others by a small few of these decisions so it is no surprise that this fact is lost in many films, but not Half Nelson.
This honest film tells the story of Dan (Ryan Gosling), an inner-city junior high schoolteacher and girls basketball coach who smokes crack. One night after a game, believing everyone had left. Dan decides to feed his addiction inside the girl's locker room. Drey (Shareeka Epps), one of Dan's players and students, catches him in the act and they form a precarious relationship.
While Dan is the central character, neither him nor Drey is the subject of the film. Half Nelson is a character study more interested in the dynamics of relationships than any one particular character. As a result, we get little background information on the how, when and where of Dan's drug use or Drey's family issues. While I consider this a valid criticism of the film, in the end neither is crucial to the film and we still care about Dan and Drey.
While many would classify Dan as a threat to the naïve and impressionable young students, which he is in that one respect, but we also see the positive influences he has on the children. He has a passion for teaching and an excitement for the material, which he passes to his students. Dan is also good-hearted and caring. He grows to care for Drey but it is obvious he has concern for all of his students. Even while under the influence of cocaine he talks about how he can help change the world.
On the opposite side is Roodly (Jeff Lima), a friend of Drey's father and local crack dealer. Roodly is looking after Drey while her father is in jail and their relationship grows over the course of the film. Roodley makes several incomprehensible decisions that undoubtedly make you question Drey's safety but like Dan, Roodley does indeed care for Drey.
Humans are complex creatures and films like Half Nelson help remind us of this fact. It is easy to draw blind conclusions about a person from only a few facts but the majority of the time they don't give you the entire picture.
*** ½ / ****