Official Movie Website
Theatrical Release 08/11/06 (LA/NY) 8/25/06 (Moderate) 9/15/06 (St. Louis)
Home Video 02/13/07
MPAA Rating Rated R for drug content throughout, language and some sexuality
Running Time 1 hour 44 minutes
Genre Drama
Director Ryan Fleck
Writer Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Cast Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Karen Chilton, Monique Curnen, Shareeka Epps, Tina Holmes, Collins Pennie, Deborah Rush, Jay O. Sanders, Sebastian Sozzi, Nicole Vicius, Tristan Wilds
Studio ThinkFilm
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HALF NELSON
SYNOPSIS
Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is a young inner-city junior
high school teacher whose ideals wither and die in
the face of reality. Day after day in his shabby
Brooklyn classroom, he somehow finds the energy
to inspire his 13 and 14-year-olds to examine
everything from civil rights to the Civil War with a
new enthusiasm. Rejecting the standard curriculum
in favor of an edgier approach, Dan teaches his
students how change works ? on both a historical
and personal scale ? and how to think for
themselves.
Though Dan is brilliant, dynamic, and in control in
the classroom, he spends his time outside school
on the edge of consciousness. His disappointments
and disillusionment have led to a serious drug habit.
He juggles his hangovers and his homework,
keeping his lives separated, until one of his troubled
students, Drey (Shareeka Epps), catches him getting
high after school.
From this awkward beginning, Dan and Drey stumble
into an unexpected friendship. Despite the
differences in their ages and situations, they are
both at an important intersection. Depending on
which way they turn - and which choices they make
- their lives will change.
--©Thinkfilm
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