Review: Half Nelson

Half Nelson's setting can't help but draw comparisons to season 4 of HBO's The Wire, and the eagle-eyed viewer will be able to spot a couple of the kids from the show return in Dan Dunne's classroom - but David Simon's show never worked in just a single sixty minute fix and in being so similar to it, Half Nelson is a little bit of a letdown, drifting by without much resolution, not having the luxury of another 50 episodes to tell its slow-burning story.

However, there's still plenty to like about the film, in particular excellent performances from Ryan Gosling as drug-addled teacher Dunne and Shareeka Epps as Drey, who share a unique Teacher/Student relationship on discovering Dunne's addiction. The film-makers also deserve credit for avoiding falling into the same trap of Gran Torino where having such a great actor in the lead shows up a cast of novices in support, though we know from Blue Valentine, Gosling could step in and sing over the end credits if they wanted to go down that route.