Half Nelson

Rating: 5/10 (1 January 2010)

This film strived for gritty realism but failed. The dialogue, acting,and superficiality of this film made it ultimately fake. The film was mainly a gross-out; bloodletting through razor blades, staple guns, deli slicers. The relationships between Ram and the stripper or his daughter were cliché and predictable. What the heck ever happened to Mickey Rourke? I know that he tried his hand at boxing in the early 90's. He apparently lost quite a few matches because his face seems unrecognizable from the leading man in the 80's. He looks like Ward Bond on steroids. He obviously took a lot of steroids to become transformed from a skinny young man to a muscle-packed middle ager in his mid fifties. In real life, he's a strange, drugged out person, so his acting in this film wasn't much of a stretch and should not have been considered for the Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Marissa Tomei took the opportunity here to show off her finely toned body - very nice for a woman past forty. She did, however, use a much younger stunt double in the scenes where she wiggled her naked bottom on the stage. The film could have been much more powerful and effective, but it dripped with forced sentiment. In the hands of a more capable director,along with a better screenplay, it could have been a contender. Creepy trivia: Rourke is having an off screen affair with the actress who played his daughter. She's 30 years younger than him. Another thing that creeped me out: Why does "Ram" pin up his long hair like a woman instead of wearing a ponytail? Sick.