Half Nelson
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Ryan Fleck
Ryan Gosling
Jeff Lima
Shareeka Epps
Nathan Corbett
Tyra Kwao-vovo
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
White Brooklyn schoolteacher Dan Dunne regularly shows up to class hung over from his nighttime crack cocaine habit, but nevertheless is an impassioned educator. Dan tries to inspire his mostly African-American students by teaching history through the prism of dialectics, arguing that opposing forces create change. Dan also coaches the girls' basketball team. Distressed after seeing his former girl friend, Rachel, at a game one night, he smokes crack in the supposedly empty girls' locker room, but is discovered by one of his students, thirteen-year-old Drey. Drey is naturally reserved and betrays only a silent disappointment at seeing her teacher high and crouching in a toilet stall. Nevertheless, she stays with Dan, who is anxious, and later allows him to drive her home. Drey's home is an empty apartment: her father is estranged, her mother works double shifts, and her older brother, Mike, is in prison. Drey is noticeably absent from class the next day, but returns on another day on which Dan explains the concept of turning points achieved during moments of opposition. To demonstrate, Dan arm-wrestles¿and beats¿a student. Despite Dan's obvious enthusiasm, the principal reprimands him for refusing to stick to the mandated curriculum. Later, Dan learns that his crack pipe was found in the bathroom, but its owner cannot be identified. After school, meanwhile, Drey forms a wary but close bond with Mike's friend and former employer, Frank, a drug dealer who helps support her family. Drey is unaware that Dan buys his drugs from Frank's confederate, Harvey. Dan continues to guide his class through the period of the civil rights movement and intermittently attempts to stop taking drugs. During one such upswing he meets with Rachel, who is now a recovering addict and has a new life. Upset after learning that Rachel is engaged, Dan overreacts to a foul at a school basketball game and insults the referee, who kicks him off the court. When Drey checks on him afterward, he asks her if she knows Frank, who attended the game with his girl friend, Tina, and was obviously cheering for Drey. However, Drey pretends not to know Frank and Dan does the same. Hung over the next day, Dan lectures aimlessly to the now-bored students and eats lunch alone. He gives Drey a ride home again, but she claims to have lost her key so he will take her back to his apartment. Now becoming genuine friends, Drey and Dan relax into an easy banter, and when she learns he has a date that night, she shares her favorite silly knock-knock joke for him to use. In the evening, Dan's date with his fellow teacher, Isabel, seems to go well and she spends the night, but he is cold toward her the next morning. Following a student dance in the gym one night, Dan intervenes when he discovers that Frank is taking Drey home. Dan goes too far in their tug of war over Drey and grabs her arm, so she leaves with Frank. Deflated by his own failings, the next day Dan lectures to his class about human imperfection, but is interrupted by a nosebleed. In despair, Dan abandons the class and takes refuge on a couch in the faculty lounge. That afternoon, Drey achieves her own conflicted success when she intimidates a boy into returning her stolen bicycle, while a quietly threatening Frank watches. Frank is elated by her achievement, but during a class field trip later, Drey privately conveys to Dan her fear that she may end up like her brother. This prompts Dan to confront Frank, who insists that Drey is like family to him. Frank then observes that Dan appears to believe that "what is white is right," and the possible truth of this accusation throws Dan off-guard. Defeated again, Dan accepts Frank's offer of a drink, and around 2:30 in the morning, turns up high on drugs at Isabel's apartment. Dan is out of control and forces himself on Isabel, who punches him and hides in another room until he leaves. The next day, his lower lip covered with an American flag bandage, Dan is sullen and rebuffs Drey's attempt to check on him at lunch. Some time later, Dan has dinner with his family and, rather than finding comfort there, realizes that both of his former activist parents are now alcoholic has-beens, and his father is a borderline bigot. Drey, meanwhile, is out with Frank, who has finally lured her into delivering drugs. When the subject of Dan comes up, she declares that Dan is her teacher and friend, but Frank observes that addicts have no friends. Frank knowingly sends Drey on a delivery late that night to a motel room, where she is stunned to find herself selling drugs to Dan, who is having a drug-fueled orgy with prostitutes. They make the exchange wordlessly, after which Frank drives Drey home. Drey's mother finds her asleep on the couch, and although Drey has a heavy heart, she will not tell her mother what troubles her. The next day, a substitute teacher appears in class in place of Dan. Although Frank is waiting for Drey after school, she turns down his offer of a ride and instead goes to the motel, where she finds Dan alone and sees him home. At his apartment, Dan cleans up and shaves off his beard. Later, he attempts to tell a silly knock-knock joke that his brother told at dinner, but botches it and he and Drey share a laugh.
Director
Ryan Fleck
Cast
Ryan Gosling
Jeff Lima
Shareeka Epps
Nathan Corbett
Tyra Kwao-vovo
Rosemary Ledee
Tristan Wilds
Bryce Silver
Kaela C. Pabon
Erika Rivera
Stephanie Bast
Eleanor Hutchins
Sebastian Sozzi
Tina Holmes
Karen Chilton
Kitty
Starla Benford
Anthony Mackie
Denis O'hare
Monique Gabriela Curnen
Deidre Goodwin
Collins Pennie
Thaddeus Daniels
Susan Kerner
Ray Anthony Thomas
Stanton Davis Jr.
Ron Cephas Jones
Christopher Williamson
Leslie Eva Glaser
Sharon Washington
Deborah Rush
Jay Sanders
Nicole Vicius
David Easton
Adepero Oduye
Katie Nehra
Steve Kursh
Matt Kerr
Crew
Loretta Alston
Sabrina Alston
Ronald Arceneaux
Jeremy L. Balon
Remy Balon
Molly Bauml
Chad Beck
Eyde Belasco
Adam Bell
Nick Bell
Erin Benach
Doug Bernheim
Justin Bischoff
Carter Bissel
Leslie Bloom
Anna Boden
Anna Boden
Anna Boden
Tim Bond
Jared Bougarner
E. J. Bradley
Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene
Leonard Bullock
George Bunce
Tom Caldwell
Nissa Cannon
Alexy Cantero Perez
Brian Carenard
Victoria Carter
Guillermo Céspedes
LuÃs Céspedes
Amyjoy Clark
Riddick Claudia
Mariela Comitini
Molly Condit
Charlie Corwin
David Crabb
Marilyn Cush
Katie Dainson
Dewitt Davis
Stanton Davis
Defiance, Ohio
Soandres Del RÃo Ferrer
Dan Delorenzo
Mark Depace
Joey Depaolo
Doug Dey
Craig Difolco
Leo Driver
Tom Efinger
Joe Facey
Nick Faviano
Daniel Feighery
Ryan Fleck
Darin Frank
Stacy Frankel
John Frisbie
Alex Gale
Amparo Garcia
Samuel Gilbert
Julie Gollins
Gina P. Gordon
Steven Gorel
Jared Graf
Hunter Gray
Homer Greencastle
Scott Greene
Thomas Gross
Dave Guy
Ricardo Guzman
Carol Hall
Shawn Hamilton
Loren Hammonds
Samuel M. Henderson
John Henry
Bert Hilaire
Wesley Hodges
Alonso Homs
Lynette Howell
James Hundley
Jeff Huston
Aaron Jones
David Kalahiki
Judy Karp
Kc Accidental
Dan-ah Kim
Rich Kleiman
Chris Knable
Rosanne Korenberg
Dave Kupferstein
Max Lawrence
Jennifer Le Roux
Cindy Lee
Darius Leon
Ilana Lifshitz
Scott London
Melissa Lucier
Clara Markowicz
Anthony Martinez
Marcy Mckenzie
Xandra Mercedez
Ronny Merdinger
Mike Mervilde Jr.
Paul Mezey
Elizabeth Mickle
John Moros
Smokey Nelson
Michael Nostrand
Tiffany Nottage
Scot Olive
Alex Orlovsky
Tony Osso
Andrij Parekh
Natalia Parsons
Jamie Patricof
Jillian Paul
Luke Pendley
Alyson Perlongo
Rita Powers
Sean Powers
Aaron Randall
Matthew Reedy
Chris Regan
Jaime Reyes
Justin Rigby
Taylor Rivelli
Andrea Roa
Morgan Roberts
Mike Romano
Mark Ronson
S. Ronson
Gabrielle Russomagno
Paul Sacco
Adam Salky
Sofie Sandberg
Michael Sapia
Abigail Savage
Ashley Sawyer
Nicholas J. Schenck
Josie Sejour
Lara Sfire
David Sheffield
Howard Shipman
C. Smith
Craig Spencer
William Staler
Corey Stewart
Kareem Taylor
The Lodge
Stephen Versecky
Jeremy Kipp Walker
Matt Walker
Joe Wehmeyer
Inbal Weinberg
Joseph White
Rachel Williams
Leo Won
Toshiro Yamaguchi
Sam Yoo
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Actor
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The opening titles feature the distribution and production company names and the film's title; all other credits run after the film. In the end credits, the names of Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps and Anthony Mackie first appear before the film's title is repeated, followed by the names of several other actors. In the cast of characters, which appears later in the end credits, the names are listed in order of appearance. End titles note that the film was "produced with the support of Verisimilitude, Sundance Institute, developed with the assistance of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program."
Numerous individuals and companies, including Apt. 5 Cosmetics, the Meow Mix Company and The New York Times, are mentioned as having provided props, artworks and other items to the production. Within the film, classroom scenes in which students present oral reports about the civil rights era include actual newsreel footage of people and historical events, including the 1971 riots at New York's Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, NY, Free Speech Movement leader Mario Savio, politician and gay-rights activist Harvey Milk, and the 1973 American-sponsored coup in Chile.
The title, Half Nelson, was taken from a wrestling move, which, as the presskit describes, is "an immobilizing hold that is difficult, if not impossible, to escape." Half Nelson was based on Gowanus, Brooklyn, a short film made by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden after they graduated from New York University Film School. According to a January 30, 2006 Hollywood Reporter article, the screenplay for the short was developed at the Sundance Screenwriters and Filmmakers Lab. Gowanus, Brooklyn was then produced, according to the presskit, over a weekend, at a cost of $800 in order to interest potential backers to invest in a feature-length version. The short film later won the Special Jury Award in Short Filmmaking at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Shareeka Epps made her film debut in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and was recast in the same role for the feature.
The feature film, Half Nelson, was shot on location in Gowanus and other locales in Brooklyn, New York in late June and early July 2005. The presskit notes that some scenes in Half Nelson were inspired by the music of Broken Social Scene, the popular Canadian collective of artists from other bands. The band, which also provides the score for the film, was founded in 2002 and included seventeen members at the time of production. A July 30, 2006 article in New York Times reported that Gosling, who was the filmmakers' only choice for the role of "Dan Dunne," prepared for it by observing public schoolteacher David Easton in his classroom. Easton's physical resemblance to Gosling inspired the filmmakers to cast him as Dunne's brother in the film. According to the January 30, 2006 Hollywood Reporter article, after representatives of ThinkFilm saw Half Nelson at Sundance, they purchased the distribution rights for under $1 million. According to the article, a first and lower offer was made by Miramax, but the filmmakers turned it down. In addition to being shown at the Sundance and New York New Directions/New Films festivals, Half Nelson was also screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival and Seattle International Film Festival prior to its New York and Los Angeles premieres.
In addition to being selected as one of AFI's Movies of the Year, Half Nelson received the following awards and nominations: Gosling received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor; the film received the Special Prize of the Jury and Youth Jury Award at the 2006 Locarno Film Festival; it was co-winner of the Audience Awards for Best Actor (Gosling) and Best Actress (Epps) at the 2006 Seattle International Film Festival; and received the Revelations Prize and Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Deauville Festival of American Cinema. The New York Independent Film Project Gotham Awards named Half Nelson as Best Feature, and gave director Fleck the Breakthrough Director Award, and Epps the Breakthrough Actor Award. For Film Independent's 2007 Spirit Awards, Gosling received the Best Male and Epps the Best Female Lead awards and was nominated in the categories of Best Feature, Best Director and Best First Screenplay.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Summer August 11, 2006
Released in United States August 25, 2006
Released in United States on Video February 13, 2007
Released in United States 2006
Released in United States January 2006
Released in United States June 2006
Released in United States August 2006
Released in United States September 2006
Shown at London Film Festival (Film on the Square) October 18-November 2, 2006.
Shown at New Directors/New Films Series at the Film Society of Lincoln Center March 22-April 2, 2006.
Shown at San Francisco International Film Festival (New Directors) April 20-May 4, 2006.
Shown at Seattle International Film Festival (Special Presentations) May 25-June 18, 2006.
Shown at Urbanworld VIBE Film Festival in New York City June 21-25, 2006
Shown at Locarno International Film Festival (International Competition) August 2-12, 2006.
Shown at Deauville Festival of American Cinema (Competition) September 1-10, 2006.
Based on the short film "Gowanus, Brooklyn" (USA/2003) directed by Ryan Fleck, which won the Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking at Sundance 2004.
Thinkfilm acquired worldwide distribution rights at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival for a reported sum of just under $1 million.
Released in United States Summer August 11, 2006
Released in United States August 25, 2006 (Los Angeles)
Released in United States on Video February 13, 2007
Released in United States 2006 (Shown at London Film Festival (Film on the Square) October 18-November 2, 2006.)
Released in United States 2006 (Shown at New Directors/New Films Series at the Film Society of Lincoln Center March 22-April 2, 2006.)
Released in United States 2006 (Shown at San Francisco International Film Festival (New Directors) April 20-May 4, 2006.)
Released in United States 2006 (Shown at Seattle International Film Festival (Special Presentations) May 25-June 18, 2006.)
Released in United States January 2006 (Shown at Sundance Film Festival (Independent Dramatic Competition) January 19-29, 2006.)
Released in United States June 2006 (Shown at Urbanworld VIBE Film Festival in New York City June 21-25, 2006)
Released in United States August 2006 (Shown at Locarno International Film Festival (International Competition) August 2-12, 2006.)
Released in United States September 2006 (Shown at Deauville Festival of American Cinema (Competition) September 1-10, 2006.)
Winner of the 2007 Artios Award for Feature Film - Independent by the Casting Society of America (CSA).
