Boden & Fleck's Half Nelson is a near masterpiece. This film, despite Galifianakis pretty solid dramatic performance, is boring tripe through and through. It never goes deep enough to be truly unsettling or moving. It's always resting on its own indie cliche inspired brand of twee.
It's kind of a shitty story. Sorry, couldn't help it. But really, it was lazy and unimaginative; lacks passion, and at times, downright annoying. A more competent director could've handled this kind of story a lot better. Also, I can't stand fucking Nancy Drew!
The quirk is almost self-conscious but it's a harmless, gentle story of teenage self discovery. Goes for a few emotional moments it doesn't quite earn, and is a bit uneven, but its characters are likable, if one dimensional.
just watched it .. I really loved it, because it touches things that I do have slightly like anxiety and feeling suicidal sometimes.. pretty good movie & The soundtrack is awesome :)
Too predictable for a good film and even for the teenager's problems' films. But. There are two nice points: joke about penguin and Zach Galifianakis' golden glitter beard.