Straight Time [Blu-ray]

Overview

Paroled criminal Max Dembo (Dustin Hoffman) is compelled to withstand the calculated cruelties of slimy parole officer Earl Frank (M. Emmet Walsh). The more Max tries to go straight, the more he is defeated by circumstance or hectored by the sadistic Frank. It becomes clear after a while that neither Max nor his fellow ex-cons will be able to survive looking for legitimate work. Max is too "far gone" as a human being to succeed at anything other than crime. He goes back to his old thieving ways, inveigling reformed crook Jerry Schue (Harry Dean Stanton) into helping him. A climactic "big caper" goes tragically awry, thanks in great part to the tragic flaws in Max's personality. Based on a novel by Edward Bunker, Straight Time is possibly the most realistic cinematic probe into the sociopathic psyche of the career criminal. Famed theatrical director and instructor Ulu Grosbard directed, with an uncredited assist from star Hoffman; it was their second film together, after Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?

Product Details

Release Date:	09/28/2021
UPC:	0883929781089
Original Release:	1978
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Time:	1:54:00
Sales rank:	20,224

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Dustin Hoffman	Max Dembo
Theresa Russell	Jenny Mercer
Harry Dean Stanton	Jerry Schue
Gary Busey	Willy Darin,Henry Darin
M. Emmet Walsh	Earl Frank
Sandy Baron	Manny
Kathy Bates	Selma Darin
Edward Bunker	Mickey
Fran Ryan	Cafe Owner
Rita Taggart	Carol Schue
Tina Menard	Hotel Manager
Stephanie Ericson-Baron	Bar Patron
David Kelly	Counter Man
Don Sommese	Waiter
Kit Wong	Grocer
Peter Kwong	Grocery Clerk
Betty Jane Howarth	Employment Clerk
Ronald L. Mellinger	Jail Guard
Michael Blakley	1st Beach Boy
John C. Colton	2nd Beach Boy
John Colton	2nd Beach Boy
John Gilgreen	Bank Guard
Mary Craven	Bank Teller
Peter Jurasik	Bank Teller
Enid Hendershot	Girl at Bank
James Ray	Jewelry Store Manager
Stuart I. Berton	1st Salesman
Barry Cahill	2nd Salesman
Susan Sherman	Saleslady
Francesca Drown	Saleslady
Emily LaRue	Girl
Ernest Taylor III	Job Applicant
Bob Jarvis	Police Officer
Corey Rand	Carlos

Technical Credits

Alvin Sargent

Stanley Beck	Producer
Everett Creach	Stunts
Ulu Grosbard	Director
Howard Pine	Executive Producer
Dick Ziker	Stunts
Tim Zinnemann	Producer
Alvin Sargent	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

While it rolled in and out of theaters quickly during its brief release in 1978 and hasn't gained much of a reputation since, Straight Time was one of Dustin Hoffman's best films of the 1970s, and seen today it still stacks up as one of the finest performances he's ever given onscreen. Hoffman is a fascinating bundle of misdirected energy and guy-wire tension as Max Dembo, an ex-con whose efforts to go straight seem doomed to fail, though his own impulses hardly keep him on the straight and narrow. Hoffman is perfectly natural and compelling as a blue-collar criminal, and he's lucky to have a superb supporting cast. M. Emmet Walsh has never been better as Earl Frank, a duplicitous parole officer, and Theresa Russell delivers an absorbing and ultimately heart-breaking turn as Jenny, a girl who falls in love with Dembo; Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton, and Sandy Baron are similarly at the top of their form here. Ulu Grosbard's direction (he took over from Hoffman, who began the project but changed his mind about directing after a few days of shooting) is lean, intelligent, and atmospheric, and the screenplay (by Jeffrey Boam and Edward Bunker, based on Bunker's novel No Beast So Fierce) manages to make Dembo's story tragic and believable without ever asking the audience to forgive or forget his complicity in his crimes. Straight Time is an overlooked and understated masterwork, and well worth searching out on home video.

All Movie Guide - Mark Deming