Half Nelson
Ryan Gosling stars as an inner city history teacher using unconventional methods to try and get through to his students. He also has unconventional ways of relaxing after work, namely crack cocaine. He forms a friendship with a 13 year old student played by Shareeka Epps after she finds him smoked up on the floor in the school locker room. The girl has her own problems with a hard working mother, absent father, brother in jail, and the only real father figure in her life just happens to be her teacher's crack dealer.
This setup could have easily turned into a really bad after school special. Instead it's one of my favorite films of last year. It's filmed almost like a documentary and the acting is so tremendous all around that occasionally I would forget that it was fiction. I think it would be impossible to overstate how great Gosling and Epps are in carrying the weight of this movie. And weight is the apt word considering how depressing it can be to watch people's lives spiral out of control so realistically. Many other great issues are also worked into this context and dealt with subtly, and others not so subtly. I'll definitely be watching for more films from this director and these amazing actors. 9/10