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Straight Time
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Straight Time
Straight Time is a 1978 American neo-noir crime drama film directed by Ulu Grosbard and starring Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton, M. Emmet Walsh, and Kathy Bates. Its plot follows a lifelong thief in Los Angeles who struggles to assimilate in society after serving a six-year prison sentence. The film is based on the novel No Beast So Fierce by Edward Bunker, who also acts in the film.
In addition to starring, Hoffman was originally hired as the film's director, but was replaced by Grosbard after completing a day of shooting. Principal photography took place in California in 1977, with shooting occurring in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and several locations in the Inland Empire.
Warner Bros. released Straight Time on March 17, 1978. The film grossed $10 million at the United States box office, and received largely favorable reviews. In 2003, The New York Times placed the film on its Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list.
Max Dembo, a lifelong thief in Los Angeles, is released from a six-year stint in prison and forced to report to a boorish and condescending parole officer, Earl Frank. One of the conditions of parole is that Max find a job. At the employment agency, he meets young Jenny Mercer, a newly hired secretary who helps him land scale-wage work at a can factory. Jenny accepts Max's invitation to dinner, clearly smitten by his worldly and seemingly gentle demeanor.
Earl pays a surprise visit to Max's room, finding a book of matches that Max's friend Willy Darin recently used to cook heroin. Although Max clearly has no track marks nor other signs of drug abuse, he is handcuffed and dragged back to jail, out of a job and a home. Jenny visits him in jail and gives him her number to call when he gets out.
After urine tests prove he is clean, Max is picked up by a smug Earl, who feels he actually gave Max a break by not pursuing the fact that someone had been using drugs in his place of residence, which would result in three more years in prison. During their car ride to a halfway house, Earl presses Max to name the user. Max, realizing he will never get a break, pummels Earl, takes control of his car, and handcuffs him to a highway divider fence with his pants around his ankles.
This deed makes straight life impossible. Max returns to a life of crime, robbing a Chinese-owned grocery store, and planning bigger heists with some willing old accomplices. After robbing a bank together, Max and his friend Jerry Schue decide to up the ante and clean out a Beverly Hills jewelry store. The job is botched when Max takes too long trying to steal everything in sight, something Jerry had criticized him for when they pulled the bank job. Willy, acting as getaway driver, panics and takes off, leaving Max and Jerry to flee on foot as police converge on the store.
While the men attempt to get away via residential backyards, Jerry is shot and killed, while Max shoots a police officer. Max escapes with the loot, settles the score with Willy by murdering him, and flees Los Angeles with a loyal Jenny by his side. While driving through the Antelope Valley, Jenny hears a news bulletin on the radio detailing the extent of Max's crime and the various deaths that occurred. She becomes upset, and forces Max to stop the car so she can vomit.
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Straight Time
Straight Time is a 1978 American neo-noir crime drama film directed by Ulu Grosbard and starring Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton, M. Emmet Walsh, and Kathy Bates. Its plot follows a lifelong thief in Los Angeles who struggles to assimilate in society after serving a six-year prison sentence. The film is based on the novel No Beast So Fierce by Edward Bunker, who also acts in the film.
In addition to starring, Hoffman was originally hired as the film's director, but was replaced by Grosbard after completing a day of shooting. Principal photography took place in California in 1977, with shooting occurring in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and several locations in the Inland Empire.
Warner Bros. released Straight Time on March 17, 1978. The film grossed $10 million at the United States box office, and received largely favorable reviews. In 2003, The New York Times placed the film on its Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list.
Max Dembo, a lifelong thief in Los Angeles, is released from a six-year stint in prison and forced to report to a boorish and condescending parole officer, Earl Frank. One of the conditions of parole is that Max find a job. At the employment agency, he meets young Jenny Mercer, a newly hired secretary who helps him land scale-wage work at a can factory. Jenny accepts Max's invitation to dinner, clearly smitten by his worldly and seemingly gentle demeanor.
Earl pays a surprise visit to Max's room, finding a book of matches that Max's friend Willy Darin recently used to cook heroin. Although Max clearly has no track marks nor other signs of drug abuse, he is handcuffed and dragged back to jail, out of a job and a home. Jenny visits him in jail and gives him her number to call when he gets out.
After urine tests prove he is clean, Max is picked up by a smug Earl, who feels he actually gave Max a break by not pursuing the fact that someone had been using drugs in his place of residence, which would result in three more years in prison. During their car ride to a halfway house, Earl presses Max to name the user. Max, realizing he will never get a break, pummels Earl, takes control of his car, and handcuffs him to a highway divider fence with his pants around his ankles.
This deed makes straight life impossible. Max returns to a life of crime, robbing a Chinese-owned grocery store, and planning bigger heists with some willing old accomplices. After robbing a bank together, Max and his friend Jerry Schue decide to up the ante and clean out a Beverly Hills jewelry store. The job is botched when Max takes too long trying to steal everything in sight, something Jerry had criticized him for when they pulled the bank job. Willy, acting as getaway driver, panics and takes off, leaving Max and Jerry to flee on foot as police converge on the store.
While the men attempt to get away via residential backyards, Jerry is shot and killed, while Max shoots a police officer. Max escapes with the loot, settles the score with Willy by murdering him, and flees Los Angeles with a loyal Jenny by his side. While driving through the Antelope Valley, Jenny hears a news bulletin on the radio detailing the extent of Max's crime and the various deaths that occurred. She becomes upset, and forces Max to stop the car so she can vomit.