Half Nelson
For those of you who use RSS to read my blogpostings (are there any?), take a look at the homepage. I am using a new theme now! Two days ago I had a random desire for change. I wanted something more 2013, i.e. more contemporary, perhaps a little more Tumblr and less WordPress. Minimalism doesn’t always have to imply a black and white theme, and there are many details I like about this theme. For example, tables look really lovely and I absolutely love the fact that it shows Gravatars next to the post. Now I am usually the only one blogging here, but when it’s Berlinale time, it’s nice to see Pixelmatsch’s and my postings alternate.
I suppose I have digressed long enough. At the same time, “Half Nelson” is not a very talkative film and doesn’t seem to want you to talk about it either. The film is largely unpretentious: Its premise is simple, nothing much is happening and one may even wonder whether it is trying to say anything at all. Nevertheless, there is something about the film that just screams Hollywood drug movie to me. While “Oslo, August 31st” was about the struggle of a single protagonist with his ‘human condition’, there are various elements in this film that feel very Hollywood to me – neglected black kid, drug-abusing guy whose ex-girlfriend left him but wants to stay friends, unlikely friendship between adult guy and pre-pubescent teen but nobody seems to take offense etc. etc. There is something too optimistic, almost dream-like in the world of “Half Nelson” – in fact, both protagonists seem to be perfect humans if it wasn’t for his cocaine and her bad friends. It is very American cinema to create these practically perfect people with only a single flaw, and that may be the reason why I never felt like the characters were as real as most reviewers praise it to be.
But don’t get the wrong idea, on many levels the film is rather brilliant. We already know that Ryan Gosling is an awesome actor, but his chemistry with Shareeka Epps is unusually great. The film is definitely at its height when the two of them interact and show their subtle friendship. In fact, when she got locked out of her house and the two of them ended up making dinner together, I realized that the film was more than just an understated artsy drug film. I was not actually looking for reality here, but for a human moment. It may have taken me a long time to get into their relationship, but somewhere along the road, I warmed up towards those characters who objectively have absolutely nothing to do with me.
For the most part, I understand why everybody loves this film (heck, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote a laudatio for it!) and I thought it was enjoyable to watch, but overall it was not my type of film so I am unable to get overly excited about it. With that said, I have absolutely no idea who recommended it to me anymore. It must have been in the “other recommendations” list for years.