Le récidiviste

Whatever the weaknesses of STRAIGHT TIME, the strengths render them meaningless. This is at the center a small story about a small man of no consequence in the world. Dustin Hoffman's character is never going to do Great Things with his life. He's probably never going to hold a meaningful job thanks to his criminal record. Whether it's due to the inequities of the system or his own character's weaknesses, it doesn't matter. He'll never have a family or make a contribution to society. But we still care about him. Hoffman's amazing performance makes us care and gives him meaning that few actors could imbue.

The storyline is slow and downbeat. Nothing good is going to come to the inhabitants of this movie. However, that is the unrepentant message of STRAIGHT TIME and it is delivered with amazing power and stark desperation. I can see why this sad premise was a commercial flop but there is not a single false note in the entire heartbreaking two hours. The stellar supporting cast features early roles for Gary Busey, Kathy Bates and M. Emmett Walsh. One of the great noirs of the seventies and a must see for anyone who is a fan of Hoffman or film noir in general.

This movie creeps up on you, gets a kind of emotional hold on you and digs in through the end. Really, a terrific 70s style film (should have been made in 1973). Dustin Hoffman is outstanding. He gives an understated performance that fits the atmosphere of the movie, the story and himself perfectly. It is one of his best performances. Theresa Russell, and Harry Dean Stanton also deliver excellent performances. A very good example of how story, and acting that is true to the story, matter so much in making a good film. Urls Grosbard does a good job of establishing the mood of the film and carrying it all the way through, without hitting you over the head with unnecessarily forced dialog or drawn-out action sequences, etc.

We meet Max Dembo (Dustin Hoffman) as he is getting out of prison on parole after six years. He has an arrogant condescending parole officer (M. Emmett Walsh) but yet he seems determined to go straight. He is supposed to go to a halfway house, but the parole officer gives him one week to find a place to live and get a job. He does that - modest ones for sure, but they qualify. He also meets a girl at the employment office in whom he gets interested, a very young Theresa Russell as Jenny Mercer. Jenny seems intrigued with Max, given that he is upfront about his criminal past.

The parole officer puts Max back in jail for suspicion of drug abuse, and after his urine test comes back clean he is released, but he has lost his job and his room. Max decides to get even with this guy and, on the way to the halfway house, commandeers the car, drags out the parole officer, and handcuffs him to a fence next to the highway with his pants around his ankles. Max takes off in his car and it is clear LA hasn't changed that much in 45 years as nobody comes to the officer's immediate aid. Max is now forced to go back to a life of crime, but it doesn't seem like he needs that much prodding. Complications ensue.

You're not sure who the real Max Dembo is. You meet all of his friends, ex-cons themselves, and they are as complex as Max is. They have working class lives with kids, wives, and cookouts, but don't need the hard sell to decide to go back to crime. It's not a hard decision for any of them. And you can see how they all got apprehended in the past - they all have their rash, greedy, and violent sides.

You never meet any of Max's family of origin. Being in his 30s you have no idea if he ever had enough time on the outside to make some kind of family of his own. Neither is ever mentioned. So he is a complete enigma, known only by what we see in this film and his criminal history, which is shown in the end credits. It's a very gritty crime film and character study, and a good example of what kind of films could be made after the production code completely collapsed that would have been hard to make just ten years before when it had only recently been disposed of.

Or...how to humiliate your detestable creep of a parole officer like no one else in only a matter of seconds.

Beginning with "The Graduate", I have seen many Dustin Hoffman movies in which he excels as an actor playing a very wide range of roles, but there is something about this part as lifetime criminal Max Dembo that stands out in my mind. Contrary to what some reviewers write, this is a grossly underrated film, and I am very surprised that it was never even nominated for an Oscar in any category. When I examine the names of productions that actually won in that year, I am even more disappointed.

What truly strikes me is how passionate Mr. Hoffman was in making this movie. At some point, he realized that he could not fully develop as Dembo if he directed himself at the same time. That was a good decision, and choosing his friend Ulu Grosbard was an even better one. I have only seen Grosbard's "The Subject Was Roses", a stage play that was very successfully brought to the screen with the assistance of a stellar three person cast. The direction here was brilliant as well, especially the handling of the dramatic heist scenes, the escape sequences, the captivating ending, and much that transpired in between. As a viewer, I was engrossed by the action from start to finish. Hoffman also wisely chose David Shire to compose the mood setting, melancholic musical score.

The entire supporting cast, without exception, was first-rate as well. How M. Emmett Walsh missed at least an Oscar nomination for his extraordinary portrayal of Earl Frank, the sleazy scoundrel of a parole officer, is totally beyond my comprehension.

I've read many overly simplistic interpretations of Max Dembo's character on this page. Unlike other reviewers, I believe that Dembo does at first demonstrate a good attitude to his parole officer, often pushing the limits of his ability, but he may be incapable of handling his prison release, with or without an extremely abusive, sadistic parole officer. At times I wondered whether "Dembo" was a play on "Dumbo", the baby elephant who was treated so cruelly by the world from the very start. Even if Max weren't assigned to a creep like Frank, how long would it have been before he became restless on the assembly line of a can factory and in urgent need of a daring, dramatic caper or two? Aside from the seriously flawed criminal system, Max Dembo seems to be destined for a life of crime.

The typing test, early in the film, is a critical sign to the viewers of at least one very damaging flaw in Max's personality--the inability to abide by social parameters of any kind. This leads to disastrous consequences along the road. By the way, Jenny, the employment counselor who becomes his lover, is obviously dissatisfied with her unfulfilled life at the personnel agency, and, yes, even good looking people get lonely and bored. Why would so many reviewers believe that looks alone automatically guarantee satisfaction with life? The list of tragic celebrity examples alone is very long and sad. Jenny is more than ready for action and even appears lost when the excitement abruptly comes to a close.

This is a gritty and often depressing view of a man who seems to be destined to lead a life of crime, regardless of the specific circumstances. The compelling story, the fine script, the wonderful acting, the skillful direction, and the stirring musical composition combine to create a fascinating film.

This is such a great film. The cast is so excellent. You've got Dustin Hoffman, who turns in one of his best performances, but it only gets better from there. Gary Busey plays Hoffman's buddy and husband to Kathy Bates-both excellent. Harry Dean Stanton (probably one of my favorite actors) plays one of Hoffman's partners in heist. His performance is right on the money as always. M. Emmet Walsh plays Hoffman's nearly inhumanly sleazy parole officer. Walsh does such a good job here too(I read somewhere that the Coens saw him in this movie and that was what led them to cast him in Blood Simple). Theresa Russell does a nice job as Hoffman's girlfriend. Eddie Bunker himself shows up as a bartender. It's no one wonder Tarantino would want to study this film-it's remarkable.