Off the Hook

Amiably unvarnished... Much more successful than most other films that deal with daily life in the projects.

Building blocks of tale are not new, but there's an appealingly rough-hewn and convincing tone to the proceedings.

Unlike most inner-city stories that come out of Hollywood, this feels like the real thing.

Watstein handily directs and edits around his screenplay's sappier elements.

Poverty, capable of stunting lives, can also blight films. A case in point is the earnest and heartfelt but undernourished and plodding Off the Hook.

The fact that this is somebody's real-life story up on there the screen doesn't necessarily guarantee it's an especially fresh story.

Overlong and not well-acted.