Straight Time

Max Dembo comes out on parole after six years. He genuinely wants to stay out: a hotel room, a job, a woman he meets. But his parole officer sees a criminal and polices every step accordingly. A small violation, then another, then back inside. When Max gets out the second time he stops trying. The film's argument is simple and merciless: the system is not waiting for the man to reform but for him to prove he has not. It does not absolve Max; he really is a thief and dangerous. What it shows, step by step, is how the return was prepared. Ulu Grosbard directed. Dustin Hoffman plays Max, M. Emmet Walsh the parole officer, with Harry Dean Stanton, Gary Busey and Theresa Russell in the cast. The source is Edward Bunker's novel No Beast So Fierce. Bunker had served long stretches in prison himself and appears in a small role. The director's chair changed hands. Hoffman began directing it, found after a day of shooting that acting and directing at once was too much, and handed it to his friend Grosbard. He later went to law with the production company over final cut. Who it is for: anyone who likes hard seventies American crime cinema and stories about getting out. Who it is not for: anyone looking for hope. The film is bleak throughout, the character does not develop, and the robberies are deliberately unexciting.