A breed of film has emerged from Sundance over the past decade or so: The film in question fills its indie requirements with some kind of off-the-wall high concept, while in actuality being just as stupid, formulaic, and scrotumless as any of the worst Hollywood movies (I'm sure I don't have to mention Happy, Texas as an example). That this schlock is easily identified by its synopses is particularly unfortunate for a film such as Ryan Fleck's Half Nelson, which is a high concept film from Sundance that is not only worth seeing, but also among the best Utah's big hitter has churned out in the past several years.

The high concept in question is that a wonderful and charismatic inner city junior high history teacher named Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is also a closeted crack addict. One of his students, Drey (newcomer Shareeka Epps), finds out, causing the two to forge an awkward friendship. It would seem that all kinds of heartwarming redemptive crap would come the way of the viewer, but I'm happy to report that Half Nelson actually finds a seemingly impossible balance in making the concept seem plausible, marking Mr. Dunne a likeable protagonist worth rooting for, and making Drey more than a typical doe-eyed fop.

While Gosling is best known by the general public as the guy from The Notebook, he first got his notice in Hollywood in his excellent turn as a Jewish neo-nazi in 2001's Sundance alum The Believer; in fact, his performance in said film-which I'd say is one of the ten best in the past decade or so-is the only reason I bothered squeezing Half Nelson into my busy Sundance schedule in the first place. And really, while Fleck's directing is great, his script (which he co-wrote with Anna Boden) is better than one could reasonably expect (among other high points, it has the best last line since The Station Agent; it's a truly satisfying thing when a film with this much potential sticks its ending). And while Epps is a real find as young Drey, this is Gosling's film all the way. He's grizzled and goofy and smart, and he perfectly embodies and calls to mind those teachers who were similarly likeable from the viewer's childhood.

Needless to say, if it were up to me, Gosling would at least be nominated for and probably win the Best Actor Oscar next year; indeed, he could be a dark horse contender, if distributor ThinkFilm plays its cards right.

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