It's called "dialectics"--a method of solving disputes through discussion, hopefully achieved through reason and logic. That, at least, was Socrates' goal. To look at the concept in a broader way, two opposing forces must eventually reach some sort of compromise, either by reason or by force, and we all should hope that reason is the victor.
This is the bedrock of all of the teachings of Dan Dunne, an inter-city, middle school history teacher who disregards curriculum, favoring a post-modern, quasi-communist point of view instead. His class isn't like the junior high I remember. There are too few kids, the lessons are too loose, the teacher is too chummy (and all the kids are black, but as I grew up in New Mexico that really isn't such a notable difference). All in all, Mr. Dunne seems too good a teacher to be true. He loves his job and has that eye-rolling goal of changing the life of just one child.
But Dan has a secret. He seems to be perpetually tired. He eyes are red and puffy, he constantly sweats, and the occasional scratching becomes increasingly noticeable. A crack addict on the not-so-down-low, Dan is a child. He parties, he drinks, he snorts, his apartment is a hovel. Some misplaced sense of duty has urged him into teaching, but something more is keeping him in a rut.
Ryan Gosling gives an inspired performance as this young man, hurt and lonely, leading a miserable life. His acting is as thoughtful as ever in this movie; his character incredibly frustrating, but someone we cheer for. He has to get better. He has to make a change.
Dan's opportunity for something better comes when his secret is discovered by one of his students, a tomboy named Drey. A hard-knock life and a void of strong male figures in her life leads Drey to Dan, the two forming an unusual, misguided and sensitive friendship. We fear it will border on inappropriate, and certainly a young girl fraternizing with her base head schoolteacher is not what I would call commonplace, but director Ryan Fleck's directorial debut is careful to navigate away from implications of sexual misconduct.
As great as Gosling is (and he is very) the true standout of this movie Shareeka Epps, who plays the androgynous, tough as nails 13-year-old. Pursed lips and steady eyes like a thousand walls of concrete are nothing but self-defense, and we know this girl is lost and hurt. As a first performance--as a performance in general, for that matter--this girl shows she's got something special.
Fleck's story is about the struggles of an abuser having an in-flux relationship with this girl. Her mother works, her father is distant and the only other adult she knows sells what Teacher is buying. It is precarious, it is gripping. I had a hard time thinking about the story as it seems scarily real. I don't mean in a school teacher finding a new buddy in a preteen, but that there are people in close contact with children who undoubtedly are in the same sort of situation as Dan. I think about my three little brothers, all of whom are about that same age, and what sort of influences they have to look up to. Is their idol another Dan? Is he better, or is Dan the best choice? Are we allowed to judge a man based on one flaw, however big that may be, or is that an ugly sign of hypocrisy and hubris? Those are big questions, and I don't know if I enjoy thinking about them.
The film comes to a troubling and beautiful climax, as we know it has to. It is too special a movie to follow formula. "Half Nelson" is such a small treasure because it asks us to look for help and for affection in places we might not normally turn to. Who can be a role model, and what makes one person more fit to be one than another? The dialectic of this film is that Dan is a man who needs to grow up, and Drey is the person who can get him to change his act. Drey is a girl who needs to have the chance to be a little girl, and Dan is the man who can be a father figure. The two are simply incompatible. If they both try to shelter or be sheltered simultaneously then the pushmi-pullyu walks nowhere. If a conclusion can be reached then you tell me, or rather tell Mr. Fleck. I think what he was saying, and I happen to agree, is that sometimes even Socrates can't fix the world.
3.5/4
No comments:
Post a Comment