who learns more than she should about adults as she befriends crack-addicted history teacher and basketball coach Dan (Matt Kerr in the short, Ryan Gosling in the feature). Working with Epps in the short helped form the character for the feature (for which she won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead and a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Performance). The neo-realism carried over from Gowanus to Half Nelson, with the teacher learning about his downfall in a realistic manner, with youth’s eyes staring right at him. The vibe of Kerr as the teacher is more everyman with the character actor sinking into the role, giving the audience an authentic portrayal of addiction without the glossy nature of a film. Gosling brings more of a movie feel tomake themselves. Luckily they made a small comedy instead, concentrating on the unique, incredibly charming relationship of the Wilsons onscreen. The 13-minute short consists of them jabbering nonstop, walking around town, robbing a house you learn is the family home, planning a big bookstore robbery – scenes repeated in the feature. A slightly different feel comes from the decidedly jazz soundtrack, combined with the black-and-white low budget look gives a vibe of Cassavetes and the French New Wave reimagined in the sarcastic, jaded 1990s – realistic slackers figuring life out, free-flowing through society.

Whatever these idiot no-collar crooks do, you wanna see. It’s that great chemistry the whole group has, writing together with Anderson also directing, that makes the short cool. It played Sundance and got the group an