“Two Big Thumbs Up.”®
—Richard Roeper and Guest Critic, EBERT & ROEPER
"An exceptional American film. [Ryan] Gosling dazzles."
—Manohla Dargis, THE NEW YORK TIMES
"American indie filmmaking at its most outstanding."
—Lisa Schwarzbaum, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
**Nominated for Four Independent Spirit Awards**
Ryan Gosling gives an award-winning performance as a young teacher leading a double life in Half Nelson, arriving on DVD February 13, 2007 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. By day, Dan Dunne (Gosling) struggles to reach the underprivileged, predominantly African-American students in his Brooklyn classroom. By night, he struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction. When the walls between those two lives crumble and a troubled student (Shareeka Epps) discovers his secret, the two form an unlikely friendship that could have potentially life-altering consequences for them both. Starring
Ryan Gosling (The Notebook), introducing Shareeka Epps in a brilliant debut performance and Anthony Mackie (Million Dollar Baby), Half Nelson is directed by Ryan Fleck.
Praised as "terrifically compelling" (New York magazine) and given "two big thumbs up" (Richard Roeper and guest critic, "Ebert & Roeper"), Half Nelson won Best Film at the 2006 San Francisco International Film Festival, Best Actor (Gosling) at the 2006 Seattle International Film Festival, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, and most recently was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards including Best Director (Fleck), Best First Screenplay (Fleck along with co-writer Anna Boden), Best Male Lead (Gosling) and Best Female Lead (Epps).
