Ponsoldt's central metaphor is for a perplexing male relationship that's a lot harder to call than a ball that cuts just off the corner of the plate, and can decide a life well beyond the game.

| May 19, 2020

Nolte nails the particular tragedy of the past-his-prime ex-high-school athlete.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 19, 2013

The leads are good, and Timothy Hutton is memorably off-putting as the pitcher's disengaged dad. But having created the aching umpire, Ponsoldt occupies him with some fairly shopworn situation.

| Mar 21, 2011

Nolte is a flawed mentor in uncertain indie drama.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 15, 2010

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

Full Review | Mar 4, 2008

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

| Original Score: B | May 25, 2007

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

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 2, 2007

"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.

| Apr 23, 2007

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.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Feb 1, 2007

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.

| Original Score: C+ | Jan 19, 2007

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.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 12, 2007

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.

| Original Score: B | Jan 11, 2007

Nolte almost makes it work.

| Original Score: C | Dec 30, 2006

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

| Dec 27, 2006

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

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 22, 2006

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.

| Dec 21, 2006

...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.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 15, 2006

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

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 15, 2006

Throughout the film, there is a sense that the actors know a lot about these characters and that they believe in them. The result is a movie that we believe in, no matter where it goes.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 14, 2006

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

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 14, 2006