While he’s the kind of snake who “burns bridges,” as one close friend puts it, just to get a two-dollar win ticket down on the latest horse race, the film constantly asks us to see Drazen as man and not a complete bastard, a task that grows more difficult as Ponies progresses.Ī specialist in manipulation, something that must have come in handy during his journey from Croatia to New York City, Drazen hangs out in an Off-Track Betting parlor, gambling away the small monetary scraps he can muster by conning his friends into lending him money. Part of what makes the film interesting is how Sandow and Batistick, who adapted his own play, slowly reveal Drazen’s true colors over time, building his serpentine character by juxtaposing his initial façade of good will with his increasingly damning betrayals of supposedly close friends. As the lead character in Nick Sandow’s Ponies, Drazen dominates every single scene with the kind of sweaty presence that brings to mind ‘70s-era De Niro and Pacino. Bald and twitchy, Drazen (John Ventimiglia) struts through the urban jungle of New York City as if he owns the place.
