10. Half Nelson (2006)This movie has a lot of elements I normally hate...child actors (and non-actors at that), somewhat bare script and unorthodox structure, lots of hand-held camera-work, lots of improvisation, way too close to realism for my comfort...but, somehow, director Ryan Fleck makes this work--and makes it work really fucking well. "Half Nelson" goes to show that a movie doesn't have to have a huge budget ($700k) and a polished "Hollywood" script and director to be great. Here's some of the reasons why "Half Nelson" should have just been another boring "independent Sundance" movie:
1. $700 budget
2. Shot in 23 days
3. Entirely hand-held except for one sequence
4. Developed from a 19-minute short film
5. Unknown director/writer
6. Rehashes the worn "teacher with a heart of gold" adage
7. Contains large amounts of improvisation (and from kids!)
I could go on, but you get the point. The fact is, "Half Nelson" takes these supposed "weaknesses" and turns them into strengths. The result is a very organic film that seems to transcend all of the "independent" and "Sundance film" stereotypes. The story, for example, takes the tried and tired "teacher with a heart of gold" theme and gives it a dark realism so believable that it makes the topic engaging and almost new.
Basically, "Half Nelson" is about an elementary school teacher, played by Ryan Gosling, who is both an inspiration to his students and a complete fuck-up in his own life--he's a crack addict, his relationships are on the rocks and he seems crippled by depression that is so well-portrayed in the film that it really rubs off on the viewer (or at least it does for me). A large part of this is due to Gosling's absolutely incredible performance--movies with a $700,000 budget don't have actors nominated for academy awards. But his Academy nomination was truly a testament to his chilling realistic performance.
However, Gosling could not have done it alone: he was helped by some top-notch directing and a group of normal elementary school kids eager to be in a film. Some of the best scenes in the film are Gosling's classroom history lessons, and they really help the film to take on an identity of its own. The student interactions are largely improvised, from my knowledge, and that combined with the organic feel of the handheld camera-work and Gosling's brilliant performance make it feel as though you are watching documentary footage of actual class lessons.
Of course, a movie is still not much without the story. While "Half Nelson" is not necessarily linear, that is actually part of the point. In his classroom lectures, Gosling's character, Dan, teaches history--but he teaches it using "dialectics", a method of argument that has four main principles which are illustrated in the film. I won't get into it here, but the central idea evoked here is that of "change". This is represented throughout the script, which revolves around Goslings character and his interactions, princibly with one of his students, Drey, played by the wonderful Shareeka Epps. The story is not stagnant by any means, but it does evolve slowly and loosely, as far as plot goes. However, this element compliments the realism of the film, as well as its themes, and the performances are perfectly in tune with this. You might have to think about the ending a little bit, but if you paid close attention to the film, you'll realize it is actually quite perfect.
Finally, there is the soundtrack, which provided in large part by the Canadian band Broken Social Scene. There is minimal score, but the ambience of some of BSS's songs essentially acts as such. The rest of the soundtrack is very well placed, and the songs really serve to drive some of the more intense scenes in the film, where simple "bare realism" would not suffice.
In the end, "Half Nelson" in a way stands alone on this list in many ways, simply because it is quite unlike most of the films on the list. Really, it is unlike most films in general: a truly organic piece of art that rises above many of the common conceptions of feature filmmaking today. The result is a beautiful and thought-provoking piece that towers above films with budgets 100 times larger, actors with much more acclaim, and directors and cinematographers with much more experience. If you're an aspiring filmmaker and need a shot of hope in light of the slim chances of ever making it in Hollywood, look no farther than "Half Nelson". And even if you aren't, it will be tough to find a piece as true to life as this.
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