Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Chantel Contreras It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

blitzebill As some have said here, this is a sleeper that should not be missed.Is it true "once a criminal always a criminal"? This cast certainly works hard to answer this question.Hoffman, Busey, Stanton, Russell, and Walsh all give great performances to a tight, well-written script.There is no fluff here, just a straight shooting story.The soundtrack is excellent as well.If you're reading this around the beginning of February, 2018, you can watch it for free on the TCM app on your portable device.

seymourblack-1 Although this gritty crime drama garnered a great deal of critical recognition at the time of its release, it never achieved the box office success that it deserved and probably this is the reason why it's remained so under-appreciated ever since. Its story about a criminal who tries to go straight, illustrates brilliantly the many factors that make such an undertaking so difficult and also does so in a way that never glorifies the criminal or condemns the institutions that make rehabilitation such a huge challenge.One of the movie's strong points is its appearance of absolute realism and this is, no doubt, attributable to the involvement of career criminal, bank robber and long-term convict Edward Bunker whose novel "No Beast So Fierce" provided the raw material for the plot. His additional contributions as a screenwriter, technical adviser and bit-part player must also have been critical to achieving the level of authenticity that makes "Straight Time" so compelling to watch from start to finish.After serving a six-year sentence at San Quentin for armed robbery, Max Dembo (Dustin Hoffman) has to report to his parole officer Earl Frank (M Emmet Walsh). Their relationship gets off to a bad start because Max had failed to report to the halfway house he was supposed to go to on his first night out of prison and Frank, who's obviously a man who likes abusing his power, treats his newest parolee with utter contempt. Max says he wants to leave his life of crime behind and initially makes good progress by getting a job in a can factory, getting himself somewhere to live and starting to date Jenny Mercer (Theresa Russell), a young clerk he'd met at the employment agency where he's found his job.Max makes contact with his old friend Willy Darin (Gary Busey)an ex-con who's now married with a young son but his enjoyment of the evening he spends at Willy's home is spoiled when Willy's wife makes it clear that she doesn't approve of the two men renewing their acquaintance. Willy subsequently visits Max's room and when they're talking, casually cooks up some heroin. Later, when Frank turns up unexpectedly at Max's place and finds the book of matches that Willy had used, he takes Max to the county jail to be checked for drug-taking. Although the tests confirm that Max hadn't taken any drugs, he's kept in prison for some days before he gets picked up by Frank who intends to drive him to his halfway house. As they travel along the freeway, Frank tries to get Max to tell him who'd been using drugs in his room and when he becomes increasingly insistent, Max flips and beats Frank repeatedly before taking a spectacular form of revenge on him for all the humiliation he'd suffered at his hands.This incident leads to Max losing his job and deciding that his only chance of survival is to go back to the life that he knows best. After renewing his friendship with Jerry Schue (Harry Dean Stanton), an apparently reformed ex-con who soon makes it known that he's bored by the straight life, Max's downward spiral goes into overdrive as they go on to carry out a couple of high-value robberies together."Straight Time" was originally scheduled to provide Dustin Hoffman with his directorial debut but soon after shooting began, it became clear that helming the piece as well as starring in it was going to be too onerous and so Ulu Grosbard was recruited. His style of direction proved to be particularly effective both in the context of providing the required level of focus on the characters and also for the ways in which he filmed the various heists.Hoffman's performance is exceptional, especially for the completely natural way in which he makes his character seem so believable. Harry Dean Stanton and Gary Busey are terrific as Max's associates, M Emmet Walsh is marvellous as the sadistic parole officer and in one of her earliest roles, Theresa Russell expresses the full range of (mostly negative) emotions that the naïve Jenny goes through with all the skill of someone considerably more experienced. "Straight Time" is a great piece of 70s' cinema and really deserves a much higher profile.

Spikeopath Based on ex-convict Eddie Bunker's novel, No Beast So Fierce, pic pitches Dustin Hoffman as ex-con Max Dembo, who after being released from prison has every intention to go straight. Easier said than done, though...It's hard to believe that Straight Time is often thought of as under seen, a hidden gem of the 1970s, this given that it stars Dustin Hoffman and the advent of the internet years has seen it garner votes and reviews aplenty. Yet it does seem to be a pic that doesn't get its due credit, annoying since it's one of Hoffman's greatest performances.Hoffman loved the material and heavily sought to direct and star in it. Something which proved too hard for him to do. He was humble enough to recognise this fact and brought in friend Ulu Grosbard to direct while he concentrated on the acting side of things - result!There is absolutely no glamour on show here, Max is surrounded by weasels, slime balls, junkies and perpetual thieves, while his own mental fortitude is suspect at best. It's both gripping and disturbing, this world he inhabits, no excuses are put forward, no "woe is me" tales, he ultimately accepts his lot.Hoffman is backed by superb performances from Harry Dean Stanton, M. Emmet Walsh and Gary Busey, and Theresa Russell gives quality turn as the naive woman in Max's life - no token here, she's in the grip of a homme career criminal and not merely here to look pretty and doe eyed.As a character study it positively bristles with brains and foolish brawn, and Grosbard directs with unfussy skill whilst showing a very good eye for a dramatic action scene. Studio interference would hurt the pic upon release, but now this can be seen as a film of great worth. 9/10

MoviemanCin Wow! Where do I begin? This movie had a 7.4 rating on IMDb, and it had Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, Gary Busey, Jake Busey, Harry Dean Stanton, and Kathy Bates. How could I go wrong?Well I found out. I should have know it wasn't going to be good since it was filmed in the 70's. I don't know what it is, but there seems to be something fundamentally wrong with movies shot in that decade.The movie had some really stupid dialogue, and one of the most awkward seduction scenes I've ever seen. I mean they just looked at each other for what seemed like two minutes. I found myself wondering "How do they keep from busting out laughing?" I was about to. The music was loud and terrible (very 70's), and Hoffman's actions just were not believable. He was stupid and greedy, and I just could not buy him as a tough guy. I guess he'll always be Benjamin Braddock to me. And Theresa Russell was very wooden. The only characters worth their salt were Harry Dean Stanton and M Emmet Walsh.And I couldn't fathom what the heck the final line was supposed to mean. This was a very disappointing film to me.