Off the Black (2006)
Directed by James Ponsoldt
An aging, disillusioned alcoholic gets a younger friend and wants him to pose as his son at a school reunion.
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What critics compared Off the Black to
The film's director is James Ponsoldt, whose previous features were "Off the Black" in 2006 and, six years later, the alcohol-soaked recovery drama "Smashed."
Off the Black (2006) and Smashed (2012) depicted adults wrecked by their curtailed potential and a weakness for drink; Ponsoldt’s latest is even more heartbreaking for scaling back the years.
As in Mr. Ponsoldt’s other features, “Off the Black” and “Smashed,” booze has a place in the routine of the main character, and Sutter is no different, if perhaps unusual for his age.
Since 2006, he’s directed the following — and only the following: Off the Black, about the relationship between a teen and an alcoholic high school umpire; 2012’s Smashed , about the relationship between an alcoholic husband and wife; and this summer’s critical darling, The Spectacular Now .
Working with a sensitive script by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (“ 500 Days of Summer ”), Ponsoldt follows his “Off the Black” and “ Smashed ” with another insightful study of a flawed protagonist’s hard-fought battle against forces, including alcohol, that keep him or her from growing to fruition.