Half Nelson (2006)

Excellent drama directed by Ryan Fleck.

Ryan Gosling stars as a troubled New York school teacher. When one of his young students (Shareeka Epps) discovers him taking drugs in the bathroom, the pair form an unusual relationship. 

It’s a powerful and gritty story, subtly written and brilliantly acted. As well as the two leads, there’s Anthony Mackie as Frank, a local drug dealer who has his own problems. 

It could have become sentimental and trite, but there are no easy resolutions offered and it remains disturbing and  depressing. 

The music is by Canadian band Broken Social Scene.

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

David Norris (Matt Damon) is a US congressman who meets a talented dancer called Elise (Emily Blunt) and forms an immediate and deep connection with her. But then a secret fraternity of shadowy men wearing hats (the so-called Adjustment Bureau) accidentally reveal themselves to him. It transpires that they control everything that happens everywhere (including what we assume to be “chance” events) and that they have big plans for the young politician. But the couple’s meeting was a deviation from their masterplan that must not be repeated. For reasons they won’t explain, they will not permit David and Elise to be together. And they threaten to “reset” him (wipe his mind clean) if he tells anyone what he’s just learned. 

The remainder of the film details the couple’s quest to be together despite the hugely powerful efforts of these remarkable controllers of destiny. It sounds complicated, but it’s not. You just have to accept certain elements:
• The men of the Bureau can effortlessly travel between locations by opening certain doors that act as inter-dimensional portals.
• These men gain their power by wearing hats.
• Their powers are diminished by the presence of water.
• It’s all overseen by “the Chairman”.

Based on a Philip K. Dick story, the premise is terrific but I knew from the outset that it would be almost impossible to resolve the plot in a satisfactory way. How could anyone live in opposition to such formidable forces of control? Sure enough, the ending did seem a bit of a cop-out, but I can’t see how else it could have concluded. 

It works as an exciting thriller with sci-fi and conspiracy-theorist elements. The idea that you can glimpse behind the curtain of reality and see what’s really going on is a hugely appealing one. I loved the electronic “books” that showed the various paths of reality evolving and redrawing themselves in real time. 

Damon and Blunt have great chemistry and the film works primarily because the story details their romance – meeting, being separated, coming together again and facing the future as a couple. In fact, Blunt is so charming that I wished there was more of the pair simply chatting, flirting and getting to know each other. This would have made for an entertaining and touching narrative in its own right.

Anthony Mackie is easy to like as Harry Mitchell, the most sympathetic member of the mystery organisation. Terence Stamp is appropriately creepy as Thompson, a senior official of the Bureau.

The film tackles big themes of freewill vs. determinism, and whether there is any higher power looking over us. The Bureau is presented as a God-like force, and this is meant to be sinister. But then the idea of an all-powerful deity able to control everything we do is surely just as alarming, yet this is accepted as normal by millions of people worldwide. 

It gives you a lot to think about, even if it ultimately cannot completely deliver on its own brilliance.

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Jeremy Renner stars in an extremely suspenseful tale of bomb disposal set during the Iraq War in 2004. Unlike his predecessor, he recklessly ignores the protocols of his role and puts his colleagues in even greater danger. But he appears to be a genius at his work, functioning under the most intense pressures imaginable.

I like the way the film features a couple of big-name stars (Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes), only for them to be quickly done away with. I certainly wasn’t expecting that.

Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty are both excellent as the other parts of the bomb-disposal unit. Seeing their fear and panic close-up adds to the hair-raising spectacle.

As the film unfolds it increasingly takes on deeper, more profound questions about life and death. Perhaps wisely, director Kathryn Bigelow refrains from passing moral judgements and lets the actions speak for themselves. That said, there’s an inevitable US bias to the storytelling.

An incredibly gripping film that won’t easily be forgotten.