source: Off the Black

Moviecut—Off the Black

Question your own past. Think about how you (as a kid) thought it would all play out! You did of course. Not at eight but for sure by sixteen. Were you right? Did your fears play out? No. More than likely yours was a wonderful childhood filled with Captain Crunch breakfasts and soccer mom rides in the afternoon. Unfortunately it isn't that great for everyone! This little 'B' flick shows a different scenario. We can't all hide behind a mask of indifference. Lots of folks young or old have closets filled with a plethora of trials, successes and sorrows. Watch this movie with your eyes but feel it with your heart. The two may disagree. The verdict is yours.

This comment is intended as a guide to help people who have time to see only one movie about a dying grizzled athlete way past his prime to decide if they want to spend 94 minutes with Nick Nolte or 111 minutes with Mickey Rourke. (This is sort of like the late comedian George Carlin's famous routine comparing baseball to football; be warned, I still pick baseball.) On the basis of sports action, OFF THE BLACK is limited to ONE pitched ball--the TITLE pitch--while THE WRESTLER has many scenes of body-slamming, chair-bashing excitement. In terms of sex, Nick Nolte's character (Ray Cook) has prostate cancer and presumably the cuddling and kissing he does with his old high school sweetheart Marianne (a thankfully fully-clothed Sally Kirkland) is about all he's up to, while Mickey Rourke's Randy "The Ram" Robinson gets to spend a lot of screen time with topless Marisa Tomei (playing his exotic dancer lover Cassidy). In regard to substance abuse, Ray pretty much limits himself to a refrigerator full of beer, plus dinner wine and the occasional bottle of whiskey (contributing to the delinquency of a minor through promoting under-aged drinking with his 11th-grader surrogate son Dave Tibbel, played by Trevor Morgan), while The Ram seems to keep his life in shambles through over-medicating himself with every drug known to mankind. "Poignant" and "bittersweet" aptly describe both films, but the producers of OFF THE BLACK very obviously threw in a few crudities to obtain their desired "R" rating for a movie which could have just as easily been PG13, while THE WRESTLER is definitely a very "hard" R. For what it's worth, I rated the latter story one notch higher than BANG THE UMPIRE SLOWLY, at "9."

As well as being a poignant tale about the difficultly of connecting and understanding different generations, this sensitive portrayal of small-town life is also a master class in understated acting; the young lead, Trevor Morgan, holds his own in tandem with the quietly dynamic performances of Nick Nolte and Timothy Hutton, both playing damaged adults carrying long-term hurts not easily assuaged. Nolte commits himself totally as a present-day baseball umpire who could not effectively stay with a marriage, and whose past as a Vietnam veteran engaged in battle produced results that haunt him; his initially grudging connection with a local youth who also lacks direction works perfectly in this small-scale but highly believable drama

This 2006 film played in no more than 4 theatres in late 2006. It should have played in at least 1000 theatres across the country. The R rating it has gotten is incorrect,It really should be a PG 13. The F word is used a few times as an expression & there is one nasty sexual remark one teen ager makes to his buddy. THIS TO ME IS NO REASON FOR THE R RATING,. James Ponsoldt both wrote the screenplay & directed with much care. Nick Nolte one of our better actors gives the performance of his career as sick heavy drinking man, who has many problems. Trevor Morgan was not yet 20 when he did this film,he too is a troubled teen who is befriended by Nick Nolte after he does a bit of vandalism to Nolte's house. Young Mr Morgan will be an actor to watch for many years, This is not his first film BUT the reason is obvious why he got this plum role/ HE WILL BE A STAR. Timothy Hutton is Trevor's very silent & distant father. & is just excellent. Rosemarie Dewitt is charming as Trevors younger sister. In fact the entire cast is excellent,. HOWEVER PLEASE NOTE the film is slow moving, Please see this & stay with it,you will be rewarded & at the very end find out what the title means Ratings ***1/2 (out of 4) 93 points (out of 100) IMDb 9 (OUT OF 10)

This is a quiet, dis-enchanting yet very real film about the need of youths and adults for family-identity. I found it quite touching; Trevor Morgan was great, as Nick Nolte, as usual (altho' Nolte mumbles so well that you have to really let go of listening and "go with it" ... also, as usual). I was really struck with Nolte's vulnerable character; a classic "loser" profile of the "boy who would be king". And Timothy Hutton is also credible as the father-who's-given-up versus Nick Nolte's father-who-keeps-on-believing, though neither are portrayed as "victims" of losing their wives and still having to raise the kids. This is a brave film. Usually, scripts like this are about Single Mothers and how they cope with the dissolution of families-with-children. This one goes a step beyond. It is a dignified, raw glimpse of the difficulty of being a father who has lost his "family" -- either to, or from, alcohol; either to, or from, pride.

Off the Black (2006) A heartfelt, small film with two big performances. Nick Nolte certainly plays a role here as a troubled, unhealthy, good-hearted man that many might think is the real Nick Nolte, judging from the media. He's an umpire for high school baseball games, and he loves the game, and the kids, but he's such a curmudgeon and a drunk no one realizes his devotion. This drives him to seclusion and sadness. A couple of chance events combine to get him in sync with a young pitcher, played with real charm and ease by Trevor Morgan who has been very active as a low profile child actor (including a role in "The Sixth Sense"). So this odd pairing of a flailing older man and a lonely and yearning 17 year old is about how people need each other and come to help each other even when they don't quite know why. The story, by director James Ponsoldt, is interesting enough to keep you engaged, if not wholly convinced. It does follow some clichéd paths of conflict and resolution, including a little sentimentality, but it works. What really holds it all together, though, is Nolte. At first you think he's overplaying, then maybe (oddly) underplaying (since you might think it's just Nolte being Nolte). But there is a lot of subtlety to his movements and his face, and real feeling. It's worth seeing for him, if you are the type to enjoy that kind of specific appreciation. It's also enjoyable in other ways, including a series of rather searing if brief appearances by Timothy Hutton. Good stuff, if not especially original or brilliant in the larger sense.

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.

I loved the trailer for this movie because it looked interesting and funny.I really liked the 2 leads Nick Nolte and Trevor Morgan.They work really well together and I could easily see them working together in other movies.I liked the relationship they built.Ray was estranged from his own son for reasons we don't know and David looked to Ray as a father figure since his own dad couldn't be there for him because of a disability.It isn't uncommon for males to bond this way whether it be platonic or not.Throughout history older men have often had younger male companions.Unfortunately society nowadays has to put their ugly spin on it and make assumptions.Even in the movie David's younger friends ridiculed him about spending time with the older ump even though there was nothing happening except they were developing a friendship and Dave was like a son to Ray, and I think Dave looked up to Ray and respected him and later obviously really cared about him.The only problem with this movie I had was their relationship was over as quick as it began, and it seemed there was way too much more that had to be done and said.I agree with what another person said about why even mention Dave's mother since she wasn't even in the movie period.None of her absence made sense and wasn't explained well or explored at all.Also the 2 kids turned out remarkably well for having a disabled dad and being abandoned by their mother.I didn't find that believable.And then there was this whole back story about Ray's past that got thrown in and also not explored.If these missing characters were in the movie it would be easier to understand the characters better and understand how they ended up being so broken.I mean for Chris'sakes! something made them reach out to each other to have their needs met.It was ironic and comical how they ended up meeting.There were so many comical moments in this movie and played so genuinely funny I laughed hard.The reunion and the bullshitting was a riot and the look on Dave's face was priceless the more he learned about his new buddy.It also had it's serious side and was very realistic and this type of thing does happen.I know people who are living this. But like I said, it's a good movie but had potential to tell more and to go way deeper.