Off the Black

Off the Black

Directed by: James Ponsoldt

Starring: Nick Nolte

Genre: Drama/Independent

Run Time: 92 min.

Release Date: December 2006

On The Web: UnOfficial Site

Teaser: Movie Trailer

Reviewed by Byron Merritt

Family is family, and sometimes that is unfortunate. Especially if one has to deal with an absent parent or a psychologically dysfunctional one ...or both. And such is the case for Dave Tibbel (Trevor Morgan) who’s mother left him and his kid sister with their severely depressed father played by a surprisingly effective Timothy Hutton. But much of this is slowly unveiled and OFF THE BLACK begins with an umpire making a pivotal call at a baseball game which ends up costing Dave Tibbel and his team their high school championship. The umpire is a gruff man named Ray Cook played by Nick Nolte (OVER THE HEDGE).

It is Nolte who carries the entire film, really. And it probably wasn’t that much of a stretch for him to play the drunken Cook character considering Nolte’s past notices on the local news. Which, of course, made him the perfect casting choice. His gravelly voice and fading good looks matched Ray Cook’s persona to a tee. When Ray finds a bunch of team members toilet-papering his home, he’s able to catch one of them and, of course, it’s Dave Tibbel. They strike up an interesting relationship. Dave needs something more of a father figure (which he’s not getting at home), while Ray needs to connect with someone from the outside world in a meaningful way.

The two bond in father/son fashion one night after Ray takes Dave to his 40 year class reunion posing as Ray’s son. It is here that Dave learns much about this enigmatic patriarchal man. Ray has a real son that he sends video recordings of himself to, only to have most of them returned unopened. Ray leans on Dave as a crutch and Dave does likewise to Ray, each needing and receiving something from the other. And it isn’t always a “good” something. But it is a needful something that leads both of them to an understanding of what lay ahead. For Ray, it’s not a good thing, as he recently received some bad news from his doctor. For Dave, we just aren’t sure because his home-life seems totally dysfunctional.

Nolte’s performance is outstanding, but it is his performance (and only his performance) that pulls the story along in any satisfying way. Trevor Morgan tries his damnedest to match Nolte but can’t quite muster enough of himself to make his Dave character very sympathetic. Timothy Hutton did a fine job as the depressed father but has so little screen time that you never get a good sense of him. Dave’s sister Ashley played by Sonia Feigelson is another example of a character that could’ve pulled in some emotional weight but was never given enough time on-screen.

So the entire production felt a bit stilted, hedging all of its bets on Nolte’s shoulder ...which was probably for the best considering the overall story/script.

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Image from Off the Black

Dave (Trevor Morgan) accompanies Ray (Nick Nolte) to his 40 year class reunion, posing as his son