Customer Reviews

Straight Time [VHS]

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A grim, rigidly understated, crime flick, featuring Dustin Hoffman as a tight-lipped, ill-fated career criminal. His onscreen transition from a docile but dignified parolee to a cold, calculating man of action is surprising and effective; the second half of the film is a dry-mouthed slow-drip of adrenaline and dread. Plenty of gritty '70s ambiance, and strong performances by Harry Dean Stanton, Gary Busey and a young Kathy Bates. Theresa Russell is absorbing as the good girl gone wrong who has a puzzling attraction to a very dangerous man. Worth checking out.

This 1978 film, co-written by Eddie Bunker--an actual con known for his realistic stories of criminals and prison life--stars Dustin Hoffman in one of his absolute best roles as Max Dembo, a con who has to contend with an arch-enemy in the form of his ultra-nasty parole officer, played perfectly by none other than M. Emmet Walsh.

Also on hand, as Dembo re-embarks on a life of crime after release from the slammer, are his buds, also former crooks, who are persuaded by Max to once again plunge into the dark side of crime. Gary Busey and Harry Dean Stanton are these guys, and the casting here is right on target. Stanton is always good, but here he's even better as a world-weary guy who's so jaded by his marriage that he's eager to get going with Dembo, rather than having to go through the endlessly boring days of domestic life with his wife (Kathy Bates in an early role, and great as usual).

This is a terrific companion piece to another Dustin Hoffman-starring film, Midnight Cowboy. In both films, we see how the actor gets under the skin of a character who's at rock bottom and teases out of this mess so much humanity that the viewer is glued to the screen. Hoffman in his prime? You bet. Just about no other actor around is this good in this kind of role. He's a malevolent force of nature in Straight Time who has a devastating impact on everyone around him.

One of the most unknown films of the 1970s--because it's so downbeat, the box office gross was really low at the time of its release. But it's a great film, a quintessentially American film whose focus on the underbelly of the great American dream is as strong as a bullwhip.

Get this, see it, and dig it. It's great.

Simply put: one of the finest crime flicks ever made. Hoffman never better. Eddie Bunker has a cameo in it.
Check it out.
Isn't it about time they put this gem out on DVD?

Dustin Hoffman is one of the finest actors of all time, no question about it. 1979 Hoffman won the best actor Oscar for Kramer vs Kramer and had been nomiated three times prior (Graduate '67, Midnight Cowboy '69, Lenny '74), but it's his work in this 1978 sleeper that really showcases just how good an actor he is.

Hoffman plays Max, a man just released from six years of prison and determined to get a job and play it straight. But, his friends draw him back into the life of crime. It's a very straight-forward story; what makes this movie work so well is the acting. 'Straight Time' was a small blip in theaters and it's easy to see why - it's not a crowd-pleasing movie. For those who did see it they knew just how good Hoffman and rest of the cast was. Hoffman should have received his fourth Oscar nomination for this film and both Harry Dean Stanton and M. Emmet Walsh were deserving of supporting Oscar nomations.

I highly recommend this film to anybody who is a Dustin Hoffman fan as I myself am. This is one of my favorite films and I cannot wait for it to be released on DVD.

I last saw Straight Time several years ago, on television (with commercials and overdubbed swearing, of course). Yet this film has lingered in my memory - every time I think of Hoffman, I think of this film. Others here have reprised the general storyline. I've seen most of Hoffman's films, the great to not so great (thankfully I've never been subjected to 'Hook'). Most films with DH in them are indeed "Dustin Hoffman" films. In Straight Time however, he dissolves into the character of Max Dembo. You forget that it's Dustin Hoffman - you see a pathetic little guy, locked in his pathologies, with just the faintest glimmer of self-recognition, enough to despair for knowing that he'll always follow these lost paths. It is indeed one of the best films - and best performances - you've likely never seen. Beware - this ain't no 'Tootsie'. This is gritty and dark in tone, and will not leave you feeling uplifted. Then again, the same can be said for "Midnight Cowboy", and that doesn't make it any less worth the time viewing it. See it.

the best movie you never saw. this is one of the greatest films ever made. AFI be damned.

He may have not won an oscar or even got nominated for this performance but Dustin Hoffmans performance as career criminal Max Dembo is probably his finest. Harry Dean Stanton should have gotten a supporting nomination for his portrayal of Jerry Schue. His performance is flawless.Gary Busey has never been better as ex-con Willy Darin. M. Emmett Walsh is perfect as the repulsive P.O. Even Kathy Bates shines in her tiny role. Top notch performances by all! Should have been released on DVD years ago!

Gather around, for there is a story I would tell about the best movie that you have never seen in your life. That would be Ulu Grosbard's "Straight Time." This is the story of Max Dembo (expertly portrayed by Dustin Hoffman), a parolee who has just been released from a six-year prison stint on a burglary rap. What follows is a primer on what not to do as an ex-con fresh out of the joint. Immediately on the heels of his release from prison, Max looks up an old cronie, Willie (Gary Busey, looking so dirty and disheveled you can almost smell his sweaty black T-shirt and greasy, stringy brown hair). Max is having a hard time playing it straight in the street and is actively seeking his next big score. He soon hooks up with a more stable ex-partner in crime, Jerry (Harry Dean Stanton), and he and Max plan and successfully execute a bank job. Here we learn something very telling about Max: He is greedy to the point that he is willing to take foolish chances (or perhaps he just WANTS to get caught). While the alarm is blaring and Jerry is screaming for him to leave the bank, Max is opening every drawer, refusing to leave until every last penny in the bank's reserve is in his white cotton sack. I will spare you the results of the jewelry store heist that is to follow, but I would warn you that it is a masterfully directed and acted scene that is suspenseful to the point where you will find that your toes are curled at an angle 90 degrees from the floor. "Straight Time" was released in 1978 to an indifferent public and critics alike. It was gone from the theaters after about a two-week run, relegated to obscurity. Despite the somewhat dry, drawn-out and overlong denouement, I would urge all of you within the sound of my voice to rise up, be a champion of the underappreciated, and for the love of God, give "Straight Time" a much-deserved look-see.

Can someone call I don't know who to bring us the DVD edition of this masterpiece? Please! PLEASE! First, the cast is ace: Hoffman is better than ever (what a stach!), Russell is so cute, Busey is, is, is... Busey!, Harry Dean is incredible, the amazing Emmet Walsh is more dirty and horrible than in "Blood Simple" and Kathy Bates is one of the most underratted actress of her generation. David Shire score is great (CD edition please!) and Eddie Bunker cameo is fun too. And you know what? The movie is as good as the book (which means a lot if you consider the quality of "No Beast So Fierce"). So this is not only a cult movie, it's just a amazing masterpiece! Period. Oh, and if the edition could be a Criterion one with 356864 extras, I won't complain...

Again, one of those great mysteries: why did it take so long for this movie to make it to DVD? Perhaps it was a distribution snafu--this was made orginially under the banner of First Artists, sort of a latter day United Artists where the artists themselves, Dustin Hoffman among them, tried to take over the role of the businessmen. It didn't work, and one of the results was the shoddy distribution of this movie, which came out in 1978 and died a quick death. Which was a totally unwarrented fate for such a powerful film. This, to me, is 70's filmmaking at its best: a tight, tough story uncluttered by sentimentality or pandering to popular tastes, acted by some of the best in the biz. Hoffman, I think, at his best as the thoroughly ammoral Max Dembo for whom "straight time" after a lifetime spent in every kind of prison imaginable is ultimately the most secure prison of all, one he can't help but break out of. M. Emmett Walsh as the sadistic parole officer who enjoys humiliating ex-cons like Dembo; a young Gary Busey and the always great Harry Dean Stanton as Dembo's accomplices in crime; and a young Theresa Russell a marvel in the thankless role of the girl who falls for Dembo. This is straight-for-the-gut filmmaking by Ulu Grosbard, a story about very flawed and very real people, losers perhaps, but very real in their desires and wants and actions. This is the kind of film that died after the 70s and today would only be made on a shoestring indie budget. But if you want to see Dustin Hoffman when he was indeed one of the best actors in the business, if you want to see a tough heist film, if you want to see a commentary about the way we help create anti-social cases like Maz Dembo, then see this film. It's a great one.