"Powerful and sensitive, rarely a false moment, an arresting debut.
Unlike most inner-city stories that come out of Hollywood, this feels
like the real thing." ***(3 stars) - The New York Daily News

"An engrossing first feature...captures the raw desperation and
physical meanness of the inner city. Off the Hook is a most
promising start, and audiences will be moved as well as rewarded by
it." - Film Threat

"Arresting performances...Reminiscent of Cassavetes. Off the Hook is
much more successful than most other films that deal with daily life
in the projects." -The Chicago Reader

"Admirable and timely." - The Hollywood Reporter

"Brings drama, urgency and a haunting poignance." - The New York
Film and Video Monitor

"A gritty, moving film." - The New York Post

Shot on 16 mm film in the projects of the South Bronx, Adam Watstein's debut, Off the Hook, has been compared to Mean Streets and Hoop Dreams, and this low-budget ode to life in the South Bronx 1990s blurs the line between the two. Two friends looking for a way out of the South Bronx find themselves traveling in different directions in this street-smart drama. Walter (Walter Velasquez) and Lorenzo (Jamal Mackey) are the two members of an up-and-coming rap duo called Pos-Neg. Walter is studying at a local community college, coaching a children's baseball team in his spare time, and seems determined to use his intelligence and talent to move on to better things. Lorenzo, however, is another matter; an unstable product of a blighted home life, Lorenzo deals drugs to support himself and has a tendency to think with his fists. Based on a true story (with Walter Velasquez playing himself), Off the Hook was the first feature for writer and director Adam Watstein.
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