"...brains, attitude and blistering performances. Essential viewing."
James King, BBC RADIO 1
"a masterpiece"
THE TIMES
"Just wonderful... A film you'll remember."
(4 STARS)
EMPIRE
Ryan Gosling (The Ides of March, Drive, Blue Valentine) turns in a stunning, Oscar-nominated performance in the smart, moving and politically engaged HALF NELSON, one of the most exciting American films of recent years. With stellar support from Independent Spirit Award winner Shareeka Epps in her feature debut and Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker, Million Dollar Baby), and an original score that features Canadian rock group Broken Social Scene, director Ryan Fleck (Sugar, It’s Kind of a Funny Story) weaves together a moving story of redemption in an unforgiving world.
Dan Dunne (Gosling) is an inner city high school teacher. Dynamic and inspirational in the classroom, he spends his time outside of school on the edge of consciousness. His personal disappointments and disillusionment have led to a serious drug habit. Dan juggles his hangovers and his homework, keeping his lives separated, until one of his students, Drey (Shareeka Epps), catches him getting high after school. It is from this pivotal moment that director Ryan Fleck builds a tentative friendship between these two unlikely allies, creating one of the decade’s most arresting films in the process.
Bonus features
Feature-length commentary with filmmakers Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden
Fleck and Boden's Sundance award-winning short film "Gowanus, Brooklyn"
Exclusive interview with the filmmakers
Audience Q&A at the Everyman Cinema, London
Outtakes and Deleted and Extended Scenes
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