Off the Black: Critic Reviews

We haven't heard much from Nick Nolte since he took that wild 2002 Hawaiian-shirt mug shot. Off the Black proves he's still a great leading actor.

Nick Nolte dives beneath the blubber to bare the weary soul of an automobile junkyard operator pushing 60 who also umpires high-school baseball games.

Writer-director James Ponsoldt's film treats big subjects -- loneliness, coming-of-age and father-son relationships -- with such half-baked conviction, it's a wonder the screen doesn't redden with embarrassment.

Off the Black is a small, dry, emotionally loaded short story that has been carried to film like baked fish to a platter.

A disarmingly droll and insightful indie.

As good as Nolte is, the relatively unknown Morgan matches him scene for scene.

The beauty of this film lies in its sense of promise. All the characters are in crisis, yet no one completely falls apart.

There's something very right with Off the Black in terms of pure emotion and performance craft.

Anchored by a terrific performance from Nick Nolte as a grizzled umpire who gets an unexpected second chance at fatherhood, this easygoing comedy-drama plays out slowly but assuredly.

If your film is as downbeat and deflated as this one, you had better be leading up to a more interesting insight than, 'The older I get, the more I know that I don't know anyone.'

The movie is so restrained, and holds back so much on conventional plot and characterization, that its emotional impact is severely blunted.

The story's lack of freshness is partially counterbalanced by solid acting and effective character development but, in the end, Off the Black fails to leave an impact.

Off the Black is a modest, bittersweet character study that hits its mark.

Nolte is a flawed mentor in uncertain indie drama.

To put it plainly, most of Off the Black is simply terrible.

Ponsoldt's debut is full of quiet heartache, and effectively establishes a consistent melancholy tone. And Nolte is exceptional.

Just a simple little "people drama," nothing more, but a very well-crafted and heartfelt one all the same.

"Off the Black" is writer/director James Ponsoldt's first movie...When I found out how young Ponsoldt is, only twenty-six, I was shocked that someone so young could have such insight into, and such empathy for, the existential disquietude of middle age.

A modest drama fueled by Nick Nolte's gutsy lead performance as a disheveled 57-year-old junkyard proprietor who's been as flattened by life as the rusty old cars he crushes.

The material is awfully familiar, and first-time director James Ponsoldt paces the entire 90 minutes so slowly that you might think he's talking about chess rather than baseball.

Just 'off the black' is a baseball term for a pitch that's a fraction off from being a really good strike. Same here, this movie is just a fraction off from being a really good film.

OFF THE BLACK is a small picture that might get lost amidall the holiday hoopla and Oscar-bait fare that is clogging the cineplexes. It's worth seeking out; those who do will find a sweet but not saccharine story.

Nolte almost makes it work.

[S]mart, bone-dry, but ultimately distant indie...

...There's nothing too small about Nolte's performance. He's the perfect companion for a rookie feature film director looking to make a good first impression.