STRAIGHT TIME: Blu-ray (First Artists/Sweetwall, 1978) Warner Archive

Particularly in his early years, Dustin Hoffman aspired to be the sort of artful chameleon, proving even short guys with unprepossessing looks could be truly great actors, had one of his most startling transformations in Straight Time (1978), director, Ulu Grosbard’s neo-noir crime thriller. Based on Edward Bunker’s shocking novel, No Beast So Fierce, Straight Time charts the awkward assimilation of a life-long career criminal after his latest release from prison, serving 6-years hard time. Hoffman, who, at least physically, could be counted upon to be quite unremarkable, herein marks a rather brutal morph into the sort of sloppy-haired and heavily moustached, steely and soulless guy with nothing to lose, tired, angry and burnt out. Perhaps some of Hoffman’s imperious performance as Max Dembo could be attributed to the chronic meddling he experienced on the set via First Artists’ execs, bent on micro-managing his pet project to the nth degree. For Hoffman, who had been instrumental in bringing Straight Time to the studio’s attention, and, initially reassured his ever-rising cache in Hollywood would afford him a certain level of artistic autonomy, quickly found he had been sold a bill of goods without actually reading the fine print first. Invested in the movie with everything he had, even immersing himself in the prison culture of Folsom, Hoffman hired David Shire to compose the score. Alas, after only a day in the director’s chair, First Artists’ believed Hoffman’s double-duty involvement had reinforced the artist was getting much too close to his work – the proof, in Hoffman’s inability to get even a few usable minutes of footage in the can by day’s end.

Not only did the studio renege on allowing Hoffman to direct the picture himself, but they also denied him final cut, a bone of contention that forced Hoffman – an exacting artist with a clear-eyed sense of the material, to sue over their treatment of ‘his’ movie. Depending on the source consulted, Hoffman either quickly tired of the burden of directing and starring in the movie and willingly chose to relinquish control, or was coerced into accepting Grosbard as his substitute. Future director, Michael Mann worked on this adaptation too, alongside ex-con come technical consultant, Edward Bunker, still serving time in San Quentin. The high-profile spotlight on Bunker eventually caused authorities to offer him early parole. He was released just as Straight Time went into pre-production. Mann committed a 3-month solid stretch to shaping the material according to Hoffman’s likes and strengths. But when Hoffman vacated director’s seat, Grosbard hired Alvin Sargent and Jeffrey Boam to re-write much of Mann’s script. Rather cruelly, while Sargent, Boam, and Bunker all received credit for their work, Mann’s efforts were never professonally acknowledged. Meanwhile, Hoffman and Grosbard, having worked together before, and quite well too, now found their détente sincerely strained at best. Although Grosbard had brought Bunker’s book to Hoffman’s attention, it was Hoffman who not only bought the rights to produce it, but then heavily campaigned to star and direct for his own company, Sweetwall Productions. Alas, shorn of his director’s duties, Hoffman now attempted to take hold of the creative reigns in other ways, demanding of Grosbard, certain scenes be shot ‘his’ way, resulting in a permanent rift in their once seemingly Teflon-coated friendship. This creative tug-o-war caused production to go over budget by almost a million dollars and over schedule by 23 days to no one’s advantage or liking.

Shot almost entirely on location, Straight Time is noteworthy for early performances from Kathy Bates and Theresa Russell. Regrettably, the litigation swirling around the backstage badinage between Hoffman and the studio seemed to taint the movie’s reputation even before it could hit theaters to be judged by the public. First Artists countersuit suggested Hoffman’s hostility towards them was the real culprit, wounding the picture’s potential and reputation. In the end, neither side won this argument and Straight Time, for better or worse, arrived - never to be embraced by the public, before quietly fading into obscurity. Viewed today, the most striking aspect of the picture remains Hoffman’s performance as Max Dembo. Forced to check in with a boorish and condescending parole officer, Earl Frank (M. Emmett Walsh), Max attempts to seek gainful employment with an agency where he meets Jenny Mercer (Theresa Russell). She gets him a lucrative scale-wage gig at a can factory. Max knows his way around a slick line. And so, Jenny accepts his invitation to dinner, transparently swept off her feet by his ‘charm’ and ostensible kindness. At this juncture, Earl pays a surprise visit to Max's room, discovering a book of matches Max's friend, Willy Darin (Gary Busey) recently used to prep his heroin. Even though Max shows no signs of drug abuse, he is presumed guilty, handcuffed and arrested, out of his job and home. A sympathetic Jenny visits him in jail and gives Max her number to use when he gets out.

After a urine test exonerates Max, he is picked up by an exceedingly smug Earl, who infers he gave Max a break for not exposing the fact someone else was using his apartment for drug use. Earl suggests he can still make things very uncomfortable for Max, especially if he refuses to finger Willy. Disgusted by Earl’s behavior, Max pummels him silly, thereafter leaving Earl handcuffed to a fence with his pants down around his ankles. Just deserts, perhaps, but to make any hope of his ever going legit impossible. With no recourse, Max returns to a life of crime, hooking up with Willy and old pal, Jerry Schue (Harry Dean Stanton). After robbing a local Chinese grocery for some quick cash, and, later, a bank, the boys set their sights on their biggest heist yet - a Beverly Hills jeweler.  Alas, the plan goes horribly awry when Max takes too long, and, a panicked Willy drives off, leaving his cohorts to lump it on foot. Fleeing through a residential neighborhood, Jerry is shot by police. In retaliation, Max murders the police officer responsible for his death, then tracks down Willy and kills him too.  Reuniting with Jenny, Max encourages her to take off with him for Antelope Valley. But fate catches up to the couple when Jenny overhears a radio broadcast detailing Max’s ruthlessness. Made sick to her stomach, Jenny forces Max to pull over to the side of the road. Sometime later, the couple arrives at a service station near Palmdale. Only now, it is Max who is feeling more than a tad protective towards Jenny. He instructs her to get on a bus and return to L.A. – sadder, but wiser, while he ventures on, presumably to continue his crime spree. Exiting the diner for their final farewell’s Jenny inquires whether she will ever hear from him again, to which he casually replies, the likelihood of his recapture is imminent. This is the end. As Max drives away, we see a montage depicting all of his conviction booking photos, dating all the way back to his teens.

Straight Time is a sobering, sad-eyed depiction of someone who, with only a fleeting hint of encouragement, might have been able to make something more – better, even – of his life but was never afforded the opportunity. Hoffman’s performance is subtly nuanced. Despite all the despicable things Max Dembo does throughout the course of this movie, we can genuinely feel for him.  Far from being a career criminal, soulless or, on the flipside, with the proverbial heart of gold, Hoffman lets show the wounded pang of a little boy trapped in a man’s body, his moral regret and the bitterness of having to contend with society, eager to believe only the worst about him.  It’s the sting of guilt and empathy Hoffman plays to here, and this distinctly tests the audience’s roiling and willful turpitude to merely expect someone like Max as unworthy of a second chance.  Caught in the crosshairs of this quagmire is the naïve, Jenny – a girl, desperate to be loved, or perhaps, a woman too trusting to be believed, especially given the blind optimism harbored towards the object of her affections. And yet, it is Theresa Russell’s subtler turn here as the girl with everything to lose, yet willing to make such a sacrifice for love, that translates into a genuine empathy towards Max so frustratingly believable, even at a glance it hurts. Jenny is no fool. She just has not had hope beaten from her as yet, also honor, and a quiet, distinguished dignity. It is these qualities that, in the final analysis, Max cannot take advantage of, proving he still possesses a conscience. Expertly photographed by cinematographer, Owen Roizman, Straight Time is an uncharacteristically revealing portrait of a criminal who truly would have preferred to do something else with his life.

Straight Time arrives on Blu-ray via the Warner Archive. And like virtually everything WAC does, this one ranks as another quality affair. The palette here, deliberately skews to a stylized greenish/blue caste for night sequences, contrasted with stark and slightly blown out contrasty images for daytime sequences. Roizman’s cinematography captures all the ugliness of urban blight and decay and reflects it back to us through his gritty use of primaries made muddy and dark. Fine details abound and film grain is appropriately thick and well-placed. Whites are never clean and blacks are often a velvety, smoky gray. The 2.0 DTS audio is adequate and appropriate for the movie’s vintage. Dialogue is center focused. Sound effects can occasionally sound tinny. Extras are limited to a theatrical trailer. Bottom line: like many movies made in the 1970’s, the re-watchability here is questionable. This isn’t a feel good or a darkly purposed thriller, but a finely wrought, and occasionally problematic melodrama. The harshness of the tale is either its saleable feature or lethal point of contention to require only one viewing per lifetime. Personally, I found Hoffman’s performance mesmerizing. He is an actor’s actor. Although he has done better work elsewhere. Bottom line: good for a gander, Straight Time has been given an immaculate remaster in hi-def. So, top marks to the Warner Archive yet again.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

3

VIDEO/AUDIO

4.5

EXTRAS

1