In honour of the kids going back to school, I've got to say Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson is the most inspirational teacher I've seen at the movies for a long, long time. Or at any rate, the most credible. Sure, he splits from the curriculum to teach dialectics to his class of inner-city teenagers. Yes, he illustrates his theorem by arm-wrestling the students. But what really sets Dan Dunne apart is that raging cocaine habit and manic depressive streak - both directly attributable to his liberal-leftist despair, but not qualities normally associated with this kind of flick. (Though god knows I'd have loved to see Michelle Pfeiffer snorting her way through Dangerous Minds.)

The best reviewed movie at the Sundance Film Festival this year, Half Nelson flatters the masochistic screw up in all of us. It also (coincidentally?) boasts some serious Canadian talent: the soundtrack is by Broken Social Scene and Ryan Gosling is so good it renews your faith in acting. Catch it quick at the Fifth Avenue before it's done. And, uh, pay for your ticket, all right?

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