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The self-consciously gritty spirit of US independent cinema, and the marshmallow softness of the inspirational issue movie, are fused to unusual effect in Half Nelson...

It is, in fact, a fine piece of work: reticent, intelligent, wholly devoid of triumphalism or self-pity.

In the end, it's this reluctance to grapple with the larger questions that hampers Half Nelson. Director Fleck has shown a measure of brilliance at filming this small contained world, and at preventing any false notes creeping in... Gosling and Epps also flesh out their roles with consummate ease - the latter graduating from the same role in Fleck's preparatory short film. But Half Nelson's aim is never quite so confident when it comes to the social or political implications of what it highlights; for all its efforts, there's an unavoidable sense of inconsequentiality about it all.

It's a simple story with few flourishes, but the memory lingers.

Just wonderful with its offbeat but wholly credible storyline, down-to-earth style and exceptionally fine performances.

Marxist dialectics are rarely taught in Brooklyn high schools, and even more rarely underpin a character-based feature. But both the classroom scenes and the dramatic structure of ‘Half Nelson’ are explictly rooted in the exploration of opposing forces, turning points and the constancy of change. The result, though sometimes a little overdetermined, is a refreshingly uningratiating, nuanced and subtle acknowledgment of bad in good and good in bad.

One might also argue that a crack addict couldn't be responsible enough to be a good teacher, but [Gosling's characteris ] the most believable protagonist in any American movie I've seen this year. He's far from being some simple postulate of the young couple who made this film, writer-director Ryan Fleck and writer Anna Boden. He's a mess — an immature underachiever. But he's also charismatic, multifaceted, and sincere, and we can't really dismiss him without dismissing some part of ourselves.

Half Nelson, with its bleakly hopeful view of humanity both damned and redeemed – simultaneously – is uncomfortably, almost exactly right.

"Half Nelson" isn't one of those "inspirational teacher/mentor" movies -- at least not in any generic or conventional sense. There's no triumph, no breakthrough, no by-the-numbers victory in test scores or on the basketball court. This movie isn't about those things, but is concerned with an even greater achievement that is generally unacknowledged: how people -- flawed, miserable, frustrated people -- go to work every day and find a way to care about something beyond themselves, despite themselves.

Made with assurance, restraint and psychological acuity by director Ryan Fleck and anchored by Ryan Gosling’s commanding performance, this paradigmatic American independent feature approaches recurring themes in a compelling new way. You can’t ask more from a film than that.

Half Nelson is the same old Indiewood drama with some extra surface noise both narrative and visual: while changing one’s perception of the old teacher-student mentor relationship and the problems of a crusading educator in his mission, it’s still just a bit of low-stakes liberal hand-wringing.

There's a lot to be said for the feeling that a real-life human being is acting and reacting with genuine unpredictably on the screen in front of you.