‘Half Nelson’ surprisingly moving, unusual

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, September 7, 2006

When it showed earlier this year at the Seattle International Film Festival, I skipped “Half Nelson” after skimming the description in the catalog. White teacher, black school, cocaine addiction … I can live without an After School Special, thanks.

So when I finally caught up with “Half Nelson” a couple of weeks ago, I realized I’d missed one of the best movies of the festival. This is a moving and unusual film.

It is indeed about a crack-addicted teacher, Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling), at a mostly black junior high in Brooklyn. Despite his messed-up life, he has a passionate approach to teaching history, which revolves around getting students to understand how the political struggles of the past might be relevant to their lives now.

One of his students, the extremely bright Drey (Shareeka Epps), catches Mr. Dunne smoking a crack pipe one night at school. This piece of intimate knowledge creates a peculiar bond between the two of them.

The teacher becomes concerned about the student’s fractured life, because this fatherless kid is being groomed for heaven-knows-what by a local drug dealer (the terrific Anthony Mackie). In one of the film’s oddest but most effective scenes, Dan goes to face down the dealer – from whom he’s bought crack himself – but can’t carry off his John Wayne routine.

The script, by Anna and director Ryan Fleck, is full of such original moments. It won’t let us cozy up to Dan as a tragically flawed hero, either; every time we start to like him, he commits another stupid, self-destructive act.

Fleck directs with a feeling of looseness that belies the carefully crafted, slightly cloudy atmosphere of the classroom and Dan’s disastrous apartment. This movie gets under your skin in different ways.

Most notably, it has an inventive lead performance by Gosling. Gosling has been good in other movies, such as “The Believer,” “The Apprenticeship of Leland,” and even the three-handkerchief opus “The Notebook.” But I could never quite make up my mind whether he was a real actor or just getting by on intelligence and a Marlon Brando fixation.

Well, it’s settled: This guy is a fantastic actor. His role here is full of fresh line readings, and he perfectly captures the blend of self-consciousness and sincerity that marks people who would like to protest something but were born too late for Vietnam. This is ingenious work, without showing off for a second.

Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps star in “Half Nelson.”