The template for addiction stories on film hasn’t changed much since Billy Wilder’s THE LOST WEEKEND/’45. Once alcohol cautionaries, now more likely drugs, but in either case, the guy (or gal) always lies to himself about having it under control or ‘going straight’ while we watch him touch bottom before recovering to some extent, wrapping up on a note of wary hope. The gimmick here finds Ryan Gosling, working a bit harder than he has to, earning an early Oscar nom. as a gifted inner-city high school history teacher visibly losing it at home & on the job just as his favorite student is being groomed by the fatherly neighborhood drug-dealer to be one of his runners. THE LOST SEMESTER? No surprises then, but the pattern still works dramatically, especially when the acting is this strong, especially from Anthony Mackie as the drug-dealing/surrogate father figure who can’t see his culpability in corrupting the girl. Plenty of atmosphere and a lack of melodramatic push also help put it over. The ending is exceptionally touching. If only the filmmaking team of Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden (he takes sole directing credit) were a bit less ‘hand-held’ happy.’ (That’s their addiction.) Just how much could a tripod cost?*
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Not only tripods go missing in Fleck’s basic cinematic grammar. Check out the opening where Gosling’s driving with the camera unobtrusively filming beside him. But when he steps out, the camera, still in the car, pans to follow him. Who’s POV is this? The car’s?
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