An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret.An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret.An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 29 wins & 48 nominations total
- Jamal
- (as Tristan Wilds)
- Erika
- (as Erika Rivera)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRyan Gosling received his first Academy Award nomination in the 'Best Actor' category for this movie.
- Quotes
Dan: Change moves in spirals, not circles. For example, the sun goes up and then it goes down. But everytime that happens, what do you get? You get a new day. You get a new one. When you breathe, you inhale and you exhale, but every single time that you do that you're a little bit different then the one before. We're always changing. And its important to know that there are some changes you can't control and that there are others you can.
- Crazy creditsThe very beginning and very end of the credits are both shown over the sound of Dunn imitating a trumpet playing a tune.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Siskel & Ebert: World Trade Center/Step Up/Scoop/Half Nelson (2006)
- SoundtracksStars & Sons
Written and Performed by Broken Social Scene
Published by Arts & Crafts Music
Licensed Courtesy of Arts & Crafts Records
From the album "You Forgot It in People"
Ryan Fleck's film is about a history teacher and basketball coach who has a serious drug habit and he keeps going everyday because of his love of the subject and more importantly, his students. But one day, one of his students, a troubled girl, witnesses his secret and that secret will bring them together along a shared path.
Ryan Gosling has been in so many great movies but this one of his best early roles as leading man. He gives one hell of a performance and it shows how this dude can act. Does he play a bad man? I would think not. Is he a good guy with serious flaws? I would say yes. Because of Gosling's intense portrayal, we care about what happens to this guy. Shareeka Epps does very well as the troubled girl and she holds her own against Gosling.
Overall, Half Nelson is a beautiful drama about how two similarly depressed people are able to connect even though they don't find much in life. It's a bit depressing but at the same time, it can be a tad uplifting as well. For a very low budget, this film speaks on higher levels and proves you don't need extremely high budgets to make good movies. I rate this film 9/10.
- g-bodyl
- Feb 19, 2014
- How long is Half Nelson?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $700,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,697,938
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $53,983
- Aug 13, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $4,660,481
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1