OFFSIDES

With football and gambling as the backdrop, OFFSIDES is a bittersweet look at one man’s struggle to find self-worth. But as often happens to the best of us, Nick Mills loses sight of what really matters and ends up chasing something he eventually realizes he already has.

Unhappy with his lack of steady employment, Nick—a gym teacher by trade—begins to question himself and his own worth. At 36, he’s “no better off than the day I left high school.” He has no career, no purpose, and no future. His wife, Laura, successful in her own right, tries her best to keep Nick’s spirits up while he works as a substitute teacher and searches for a permanent position. But Nick’s faith dwindles with every spitball and paper airplane that flies past his face. With low pay, no job security, and a complete lack of respect from the junior high students he sometimes teaches, Nick wants out of his lot in life—badly.

Then one day, something happens. While watching football with his quirky neighbor, Phil Carmen, Nick’s TV goes on the blink. Against Phil’s advice, Nick tries to fix it himself and gets the jolt of his life. Though shaken up, Nick seems fine—except for one recurring pain in a very embarrassing area. After a little experimentation, Nick discovers that when he grabs his crotch while reading or hearing about an upcoming pro football game, he hears a mysterious voice that tells him, beforehand, the exact final score of the contest in question.

At first, Nick doesn’t believe it himself. But once he’s sure, he sets out to convince Phil that it’s all true. This is no small feat, and it leads to a series of embarrassing and comical situations involving family, friends, and even the police, as Nick begins to learn how to “use” his newfound forecasting ability.

Once Phil is on board, they come up with a plan to make money. A lot of money—at least, that’s what Nick wants. Phil is more cautious by nature, and as a steady blue-collar worker for the past 20 years, he doesn’t share Nick’s desperate need to “make something of himself.” For Phil, the whole scheme is a novelty—something new in his mostly boring, routine life. While this is initially enough to bring them together, it’s also what causes their betting alliance, and their friendship, to quickly fall apart when Nick becomes consumed by greed and power and pushes Phil too far.

As Nick goes off the deep end, he not only loses a good friend—he’s about to lose his marriage as well. Though unaware of Nick’s new gift, Laura can see him changing for the worse. She’s always disapproved of his gambling, and even though he’s making money now, she senses something is seriously wrong. Nick, nearly intoxicated by his new power, can’t see what he’s becoming or how he’s alienating Laura and his 13-year-old son, Bryan. Nick believes he’s finally found his calling in life.

As things deteriorate, Phil inadvertently spills the beans one night to a local two-bit hood named John Rossey. Upset over his falling-out with Nick, a drunken Phil tells Rossey about Nick’s “talent.” Rossey does some digging and discovers that Nick has been making serious money. In trouble himself—thanks to a nasty cocaine habit—Rossey wants a piece of the action. He corners Nick with the old “offer you can’t refuse.” Nick balks, however, as he begins to realize what’s really happening to his life. But it’s too late. The wheels are already in motion, and Rossey refuses to take no for an answer.

Desperate and running out of time on his debt, Rossey kidnaps Nick’s son, Bryan, and blackmails Nick into giving him the winning picks for that week’s games. Rossey plans to bet everything on the known outcomes, pay off his debt, and leave the country a rich man.

But there’s one thing Rossey doesn’t know: Nick has “disconnected” himself and no longer has the supernatural ability to predict the weekly winners (though he can now predict the local weather just fine). Nick tries to tell Rossey he can’t do it anymore, but Rossey doesn’t believe him. He sets a deadline for Nick to deliver the picks—or else. With Bryan’s life now hanging in the balance, the stage is set for a final showdown between Rossey, Nick, and a few unexpected guests.