Half Nelson offers a refreshing change of pace from most modern dramas about serious issues, treating the characters as real-life human beings, with their own sets of problems and ways of coping that, while not exactly what we might choose to do for ourselves, never has us reviling some of the poor life decisions they make for themselves. [Full Review]

beautiful movie, terrific performances, punch-you-in-the-heart message. absolutely worth the watch.

tour de force tour de force tour de force

Ryan Gosling is a really good actor. Seriously. When I sit back and think of what happened in this movie, theres honestly not much to say. Theres not a whole lot of plot development, but the acting is just sooo damned good, that I wasn't bored for a second of it.

Excellent performance from Ryan Gosling. The movie was a little too long though.

The performances are absolutely incredible. I've never seen such great acting. That alone would be a reason to see this movie. It runs on a little too long though.

Forgettable drama which tries not to be preachy but doesn't quite manage not to be.

This overrated film is an example of everything wrong on today's indie cinema. It tries desperately to stay away from the conventions of this kind of plot (Dangerous Minds etc.) but it still remains as shallow and didactic as most of them, although in a subtle way. The documentary-like cinematography doesn't help either, and seems like a product of its times more than an artistic choice. It gets better as it goes (mostly thanks to Shareeka Epps) but all in all, this is a deceitful, bad film.

really good movie

This one is for Matt...aka...jlcme20

Yönetmenin stili çok farklı, o yüzden ilk başta alışmak için zaman gerekiyor fakat filme adapte oldunuz mu içinden çıkamıyorsunuz.Ryan Gosling çok doğal bir oyunculuk sergiliyor...Bu film siyahla beyazın, iyiyle kötünün çatışması...Ama aynı zamanda iyi olmadan kötünün de olamayacağını gösteriyor...

rethought and reconsidered. deserves rewatch.

It's well acted to a certain degree but ultimately it's very boring and not the kind of movie that can be considered enjoyable or even recommendable. The story is rather uninvolving and leaves a lot to be desired between the characters it's profiling.

Excellent drama and acting. Presents dilemma of modern society student/teacher relationships especially when parenting is lacking at both ends. His junkie habits confuse the issue of twenty somethings having relationships with mature early teens. No good solutions here.

For some guys this movie might lack a bit of a story. And I guess it is the lack of turning points people will miss. For me the story was excellently told and Ryan Gosling gave it the face it needed in an excellent way.

This movie stole both the nacho cheese and interupting cow jokes. When starting this movie I never thought it could end with the final line being the interrupting cow joke. Now I spun this joke off during the summer of 2000 to things such as the interupting duck, dog and the infamous interupting squirrel (story for another time) Gosling was a lot better in this as compared to that horrible notebook flick (date strongly disagrees). Don't exactly get the ending, but overall a powerful flick.

The things that saved this film for me were the performances and the soundtrack.

Not cheesy - just straight up with real feeling characters.