Movie: Half Nelson

Brilliance upon brilliance. What a fantastic movie.

I'm normally not the first one in line for films about beautiful white people who save the underprivileged with their witty idealism and anti-conformity-themed rubrics.

But I'll make an exception with this one.

Rumor has it, Ryan Gosling feels pigeon-holed. Ever since he defrosted our hearts with his epic performance in The Notebook, people refer to him as, The Notebook guy. (Sort of like Leo's Titanic guy problem) So if Ryan took this part in the movie Half Nelson because he was trying to diffuse the glow a bit... well, he sure did succeed.

Because this is my blog, I get to talk about my favorite scene in the movie without having to worry about giving anything away. Well, it doesn't give a darn thing away, actually. But it's a beautiful moment. Ryan (the actor) is getting out of his car in the morning, on his way into the school. The camera is held tight to his face. He is gathering everything he needs for the morning: briefcase, books, thermos, lunch. He's composing himself a bit in the mirror. He sings that Sesame Street song, "1-2-3-4-5...-6-7-8-9-10...-11-12". Remember that? Then he gets out of the car. There was just something about that whole scene that I really liked. It told so much with so little. I listened to the director's commentary after, and he talked about that scene. How he gave Ryan a note to count to ten to himself, to get himself really ready for the scene, and then Ryan decided to incorporate it into the scene itself. The director said it really gave him an idea as to what type of actor Ryan was, and how he worked. I don't know, I just liked it. It was simple, and complex.

Great, great movie.
See it.
Then watch the Oscars in two weeks, and see if Ryan gets one.