Off the Hook on AllMovie

Two friends looking for a way out of the desperate poverty 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. While Walter sees Pos-Neg as a springboard to a better life, Lorenzo has a hard time showing up for practice or shows, even when he isn't serving one of his periodic jail sentences. Tensions between Walter and Lorenzo grow when Walter begins dating Narine (Pamela Johnson), Lorenzo's sister, especially after Narine becomes pregnant and she moves in with Walter. Based on a true story (with Walter Velasquez playing himself), Off the Hook was the first feature for writer and director Adam Watstein.