Straight time

Dustin Hoffman plays Max Dembo, a small time criminal paroled out of prison who desires to go straight. Initially Dembo’s main obstacle is his parole officer, Earl, who, aware of the power he wields, appears determined to ruin Dembo’s chance for a legitimate life. Living in a depressing half way house, Dembo attains a job in a factory and is soon dating a young woman unaccustomed to a man with Dembo’s past. Frustrated by the conditions of his parole, Dembo is drawn to old ties, and despite the fact that one friend has gone straight, is soon caught up in a web of petty crime. “Straight time” has a gritty urban feel that corresponds to the milieu of the era when American filmmakers were addressing issues of urban isolation, lack of personal freedom and the demise of the American ideals of free will and choice. Hoffman skilfully displays the frustrations of a man whose own incendiary personality coupled with ‘the system’, deny him any real chance at freedom. This was Hoffman’s second collaboration with director Ulu Grosbard, after “Who is Harry Kellerman and why is he saying those terrible things about me?”.