Half Nelson
Half Nelson

Watch Half Nelson Online Free

- 71/100 based on 89,698 votes
  • Released: 2006
  • Runtime: 107 mins
  • Director:
  • Studio: Hunting Lane Films
  • Genres: Drama

Young Caucasian Dan Dunne teaches history and coaches the girls basketball team at a Brooklyn high school populated primarily by black and Hispanic students. To the chagrin of his superiors, Dan bucks the outlined curriculum of historical facts in favor of the philosophy of historical events, generally discussing the concept of dialectics. As such, he captures the imagination of his students, at least in the classroom. Outside of the classroom, Dan's life is in shambles. He h... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in Half Nelson:

Ryan Gosling
Shareeka Epps
Anthony Mackie
Jeff Lima
Monique Gabriela Curnen
Tina Holmes

Full Plot Details

Young Caucasian Dan Dunne teaches history and coaches the girls basketball team at a Brooklyn high school populated primarily by black and Hispanic students. To the chagrin of his superiors, Dan bucks the outlined curriculum of historical facts in favor of the philosophy of historical events, generally discussing the concept of dialectics. As such, he captures the imagination of his students, at least in the classroom. Outside of the classroom, Dan's life is in shambles. He has a distant but cordial relationship with his family. He uses illicit drugs rampantly. Although his former girlfriend Rachel was able to clean up her drug habit, Dan believes that rehab will not work for him. Due to a combination of these issues, he treats women poorly. Thirteen-year-old Drey is a student in his class and a player on his basketball team. Drey has her own problems. Her parents are divorced, with her father a virtually non-existent figure in her life and her EMT mother generally absent as she is always working to provide for Drey. Her older brother Mike is incarcerated for selling drugs for a local dealer named Frank. Mike took the fall for Frank, who in turn protects Drey whether she wants to be associated with him or not. Dan and Drey's relationship changes when Drey catches Dan, believing he is alone, smoking crack in the girl's locker room bathroom. He is totally stoned. Their resulting friendship, which is seen as inappropriate by the few who know, is based on each being unable to deal with their own life, but feeling like they can be at least a minor salvation in the other's life.

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Movie Reviews

Salon.com - 10/10 by Andrew O'HehirIt's a complex and defiant fable of American life run just slightly off the rails, delivering all the impact of "Crash" without the phony-baloney paradoxes or brick-in-the-face message delivery.
Ebert & Roeper - 10/10 by Richard RoeperYou're going to have to look for it. But please look for this movie.
Sacramento Bee - 10/10 by Carla MeyerThe character might lose his grip at moments, but [Gosling] never does.
Village Voice - 10/10 by Dennis LimSardonic yet moving, Half Nelson deftly outlines the perils of youthful idealism without lapsing into knee-jerk cynicism.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - 10/10 by Philip Martin...insists on the grown-up notion that the world is a complex place populated by people who can't be neatly divided into good and evil.
TV Guide Magazine - 10/10 by Ken FoxSuperb drama from New York-based filmmakers Ryan Flek and Anna Boden.
Total Film - 10/10 by Andy LoweA riveting study in dislocation and connection, hurt and healing, with Gosling revealed as potentially the most gifted actor of his generation.
The Film Yap - 10/10 by Nick Rogers"Half Nelson" elegantly tiptoe around its elephant in the room: Dan's most compelling instruction to not let Drey enter the drug trade is his own destruction. That point of panic turns into something approaching penance.
culturevulture.net - 10/10 by Les WrightPhilosophically sound, dramatically absorbing, highly entertaining and highly instructive, 'Half Nelson' is hands down one of the best films of the year.
Metromix.com - 10/10 by Matt PaisEvery movement [Gosling] makes comes from the same reservoir of dwindling faith and rising shame, so steady that you can practically see the cracks in Dan starting to spread.

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