Ryan Gosling gives a layered performance in a role that hints at the potential he showed fully in Drive. Doing so much with so little, Gosling lays bare the empty life of a drug addict struggling to get by. Shareeka Epps matches him brilliantly as the guarded young girl who won't take no for an answer. Unwittingly discovering Gosling's character Dan Dunne's secret, she ends up being the one holding him up, rather than the other way around. Their chemistry is perfect, and it drives a film about loss, struggle and finding oneself.

The film is slow paced, but intense. The plot is simple, meandering, but never going too far off tangent. With a generous use of close ups and the haunting Broken Social Scene soundtrack, Half Nelson delivers with a stark intimacy and emotion that you wouldn't expect from a film of its stature.

You get very strong performances from Anthony Mackie, Shareeka Epps and especially Ryan Gosling who gives one of his very best performances. Like Gosling's performance, this film is powerful, subtle, and very solid.

An alright film with a great lead performance by Ryan Gosling. I was a bit tired at the time, so that might've had something to do with this leaving me a bit cold.

This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Fantastically acted and very well scripted; I cynically thought I had the plot pegged from the back-of-box blurb but it surprised me; like Henry - Portrait of a Serial Killer (in a way) it presents the protagonists without judgement. Clever name too.

I didn't really give this movie a fair chance. At first glance it would seem like a movie I would love, talkie movie with great acting and deep characters, yet I just couldn't get into it. Shouldn't have watched it in my computer monitor.

I am not sure I totally got this movie and it definitely grew on me while I watched it. On the surface it is about an unconventional friendship between a teacher and one of his students. Various underlying issues such as race, drugs, addiction, family and relationships are dealt with in the course of the movie.

It is paced rather slowly, the acting performances are top-notch and it has its own unique visual style with lots of camera shake, close up shots and large apertures. Needs some time to sink in and will probably keep you thinking about it for a while.

As much as I really wanted to love this film, it ended up falling flat for me due to the slow pace. I couldn't keep myself engaged in the story, and my mind kept wandering...
I love everything they were trying to say in this film, I just didn't like the way they presented it.

oh my fucking god this movie :{

I think its safe to say I have a bit of a man-crush on Ryan Gosling and once again in this he has displayed his incredible acting talent proving he is one of the finest actors of his generation. The film is moody, its dark and feels very real thanks to an intelligent use of cinematography, editing and music (or lack thereof) but ultimately the thing which makes this film so great is Gosling's performance. He carries the film on his shoulders right through to the end, the supporting cast are good such as Anthony Mackie, but its Gosling whom we are controlled by. Overall, although a well crafted film with a great narrative, this is a performance driven piece from one of the greatest actors of this generation and for fans of Gosling is not to be missed.

Már a megnézése előtt gondoltam, hogy nem lesz a kedvenc filmjeim között. Nem vártam tőle sokat.
Voltak elég unalmas részek, de az alakítások jók voltak. Egyszer nézős.