Rating: R
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 05/22/2007
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol/Por
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 114 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Nudity, Not For Children, Adult Language
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
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? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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