Straight Time

Straight Time (1978)

Runtime: 114 minutes

Directed by: Ulu Grosbard; Dustin Hoffman originally began as director, then he changed his mind

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton,  M. Emmet Walsh

From: First Artists/Sweetwall

Here is an obscure film I may have heard of before but I was inspired to watch it a few days ago; yes, it was a messageboard recommendation. Turns out, this is a great motion picture. I explain why in my Letterboxd review below:

Here's a random movie being reviewed by me; I say that as while I believe I did hear of it before, that info went out of my mind. It was yet another messageboard recommendation. Someone who loves it saw it would be on Turner Classic Movies late last night and considering that it starred such people as a mustached Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell (no relation), Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton, M. Emmet Walsh and Kathy Bates, I figured it was worth a watch, and it was.

The plot is that the tremendously named Max Dembo (Hoffman) is a burglar who just got released from prison. He is happy by such things as being able to purchase a hot dog. Well, he runs into issues with M. Emmet Walsh, who is his parole officer. Should it be a surprise that a character played by M. Emmet Walsh is not a good human being? Anyhow, he hangs out with pal Willy (Busey) who drives a crappy old station wagon. His son in the movie was played by real life son Jake. Well, Willy has his own problems. Max finds a job at a canning company and the lady at the unemployment office who helped him get the job, Jenny (Russell), well, he even gets to go out with her. Yet ultimately...

The movie is a serious look at someone who is trying to do the right thing yet due to prejudices and other people, seems to have a black cloud under him. The movie is almost 2 hours long and that is fine as it takes it time to tell its story and it is not rushed; getting to know these characters is an important thing. You end up feeling pretty bad for Max's downfall (despite some of the things that he does), not to mention those that he brings down with him. One reason for that is the fantastic performance from Hoffman; it was nice to be reminded what a great actor he is and while his being selective does make me wish he would act more often so everyone to see him perform, it does make his appearances in quality movies (and I don't mean such things as The Cobbler or Sphere) all the more special. It was nice to see some people that became famous later, like Busey, Russell, and Bates; the latter two, this was among their first movies.

One of the movie's writers was Edward Bunker, who at that time wrote and acted in movies but for a long time before that was in a life of crime, doing such things as robbing banks, extorting people and running a drug ring. He wrote the novel No Beast So Fierce, which this movie was based upon. He thankfully found something to do besides breaking the law and he was pretty good at his new career. He appeared in such movies as Reservoir Dogs and Miracle Mile & wrote the screenplay for cult favorite Runaway Train. Anyhow, I am sure that is why the portrayal of a recently released felon seems authentic.

Ultimately, this is a movie about making choices, and many of the characters you see don't make the right ones. Yet, you always hope for the best for these characters, and not just because most of them wear some amazing colorful late 70's shirts. I say that you should make the right choice and track down this movie however you can. It's a great movie that for whatever reason has been mostly forgotten through the passage of time.