In case you missed it … ‘Off the Black’

I guess you can call me a sucker for baseball movies, but this really isn’t a baseball movie. Sure, Nick Nolte plays a high school baseball umpire and Trevor Morgan’s character pitches on a high school baseball team, but the movie tells the story of an aging alcoholic that’s lost his purpose in life and a promising young man who needs to find some direction in his life. These two unlikely characters find an intimate friendship through unlikely circumstances.

Ray Cook (Nolte) calls a pitch a ball that walks the opposing teams winning run into home plate. Dave (Morgan) is the pitcher that threw the pitch that ended his team’s shot at the state finals. In retaliation, Dave and two of his friends show up in the middle of the night and vandalize Ray’s house. When Ray wakes up from his drunken slumber, he catches Dave and makes him clean up the place in exchange for Ray’s silence on the matter. After a couple of days getting to know Dave, Ray makes him an offer to wipe the slate clean. Ray wants to go to his 40th high school reunion, but he wants Dave to go with him and pose as his son. The two become friends and influence each other’s lives.

If there were an award for Best Performance as a Drunk, it would undoubtedly go to Nick Nolte. He’s so good at this type of role that its difficult to tell if he’s acting or simply showing up on set drunk or hung over. Written and directed by James Ponsoldt, this touching story explores one aging man’s need to somehow redeem himself and one young man’s need for a father’s attention. I went into Off the Black thinking it was a baseball movie, but what I discovered is a great movie about life.