WOULD YOU LET THIS MAN BE YOUR FATHER? A STORY ABOUT A BLOSSOMING RELATIONSHIP WITH WELCOME RESERVES OF HONESTY AND HUMOR. (NICK NOLTE) STARS AS RAY COOKE, A DISHEVELED,GRUMPY HIGH SCHOOL UMPIRE WHO FORMS AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP WITH TROUBLED TEENAGER DAVE TIBBEL,AFTER HE CATCHES HIM VANDALIZING HIS HOME. A STRAIGHTFORWARD EXCHANGE-IF DAVE REPAIRS THE DAMAGE,RAY WON'T CALL THE COPS-BECOMES AN EVER INCREASEINGLY PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP AND ENABLES DAVE TO COPE WITH HIS OWN DISTANT FATHER (TIMOTHY HUTTON). AS THEY GROW MORE DEPENDENT ON EACH OTHER, RAY ASKS DAVE TO GO TO HIS 40TH HIGH SCHOOL REUNION AND PRETEND TO BE HIS OWN SON, A BENEVOLENT ACT OF DECEPTION THAT WINDS UP OPENING UNEXPECTED DIMENSIONS IN THE TWO MEN.
Late one night I woke up and turned the TV on and began watching Off the Black just a few minutes into it. I was hoping to doze off quickly, but instead watched the entire movie. It begins as a film about baseball, but ends being about friendship, respect, and love . . . along the way we see dreams unrealized, shattered family relationships, and the aging process running rampant. Nick Nolte plays Ray Cook, a small time umpire who is hopelessly lonely. Trevor Morgan plays Dave Tibbel, a high school baseball pitcher. Timmothy Hutton plays Dave's dad. Ray longs to communicate with his son, who was lost to a divorce many years before. Dave longs to communicate with his father who is lost to depression. For a short time Ray and Dave find each other. All three stars are excellent and we get to see Nolte and Hutton on top of their game. After watching the film I bought the DVD on eBay, watched it with my wife, and then loaned it to a friend who loves baseball and hasn't seen his dad in fifteen years. Father/son relationships can always stand strengthening. This interesting film might help.Read full review
Nolte performs his role as a drunken, washed-up umpire in this film brilliantly! The rest of the cast are very good, too. I highly recommend this film to any fan of Nick Nolte, and also anyone that enjoys a good storyline of 'redemtion'.
I liked it.This movie was good.
Verified purchase: No
Notle is great! Little creepy of a movie. Lotta head scratcher characters introduced and made the movie even more confusing.
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