STRAIGHT TIME (1978): A bonafide masterpiece of 70s crime realism 

I love how the late character actor M. Emmet Walsh was in the movie, playing his shady, probate officer. He had been acting for 6 decades and until his death in 2024. Forget Kramer Vs. Kramer, this movie should have been Dustin Hoffman's Oscar moment.

I was 16 years old and a huge Dustin Hoffman fan, so I went to Hollywood Boulevard where they shot the scene of him walking down the street. I then got to sneak on the set at Warner Brothers while he and Gary Busey were doing a scene. That was about April 1977. 😎

Straight Time is one of those crime films that feels real and true. Not a BS shoot'em up movie but flawed people -- namely Hoffman -- trying to work through the maze of life.

"Get me out of here man, I can't make this scene any more." -one of the best lines in a movie, ever. I heard in the book he kills a wounded cop execution style after the jewelry heist! Cold blooded...

I can’t believe , as a huge fan of Dustin Hoffman and 70’s movies in general, I missed this movie. I just saw it. How is this possible? Fantastic movie, incredibly real. I had no idea Dustin Hoffman could scare the Hell out of me after knowing him so well. And M. Emmet Walsh? Few actors have done braver scenes. Blew me away. It went deep. Great commentary

This has been my favorite movie since I saw it, unseating A Clockwork Orange. It captures the look and feel of crime and career criminals in the 1970's. Runaway Train with Jon Voight and Eric Roberts was based on the same book by Edward Bunker. He's in that film too. The theme is the failure of corrections to "correct" criminal behavior. This is supported by the fact that he's a recidivist and tells Theresa Russell that he wants to get caught in the end of the film.

I agree with y'all that this was one of Dustin's best performances. You rarely get to see him in a tough guy role. Al Pacino would have been suitable for this part, but it would have been more in line with his typical character. All the more credit to Dustin. Someone once said if Ratzo from Midnight Cowboy had not died on that bus, he might have, by extension, become Max Dembo. Underrated movie.

If he was on the other side of the law he could be named Dustin Prince.

Excellent film. Hoffman in great form. Some of my favorite character actors in this. Harry Dean Stanton, M Emmitt Walsh and Gary Busey are brilliant. Going to buy this book No Beast So Fierce. Thanks for the info.

This movie is so good and so gritty and true

Eddie Bunker and I served a year together waiting for our respective trials to come to a verdict. At that time I was 19 I guess he was about 45. Through his connections, he sent word out after my sentencing that made my survival possible and gave me the education I needed for the five years I would serve. I ask him about his writings and the secret to these fascinating stories that are so real. He told me the secret was that, they were real. Just the chronology and compilation of true events assembled from different times and people to form one cohesive story. The reason it rings so true, is because it is. Example. In the movie animal factory, a full conversation almost verbatim, that wound up in the movie. But other occurrences in the movie came from different years different people different prisons, but true. He had a lot more to do with Reservoir dogs that most people know or are willing to say. I would not have survived the gladiator school that is Soledad prison, if not for Eddie Bunker sending out word, and making my path much smoother than it would have been.

Heart pumping Excitement and adrenaline, living by wit, you don't get that working a desk job

Excellent Review! ...Newk from Kentucky

Love all sorts of film genres, American, English and French. There are many 70's U.S crime films which are thrilling, Straight Time, Charley Varrick, Death Wish series, Dirty Harry series etc. Straight Time has many angles to it, Hoffman trying to conform, the parole officer nagging him, the love interaction, the crimes. Hoffman cannot conform any more has had enough and breaks loose and does what he needs to do. Seen Straight Time a few times and it has an ambience about it, capturing that time, with the great music score.

Some personal observations about this film: 1./ 6:30 - The "No beast so fierce" quote from Richard the Third also appears on a closing title card at the end of 1985's Runaway Train (also starring and partially written by Edward Bunker). 2./ 35:25 - Does anyone else think that the architectural layout of this bank during the final heist resembles the bank used in the final heist in 1995's Heat? 3./ 58:07 - Gary and Jake Busey played father and son once again in the Predator franchise (Gary played alien hunter, Keyes in 1990's Predator 2 and Jake was alien scientist, Keyes Jr. in 2019's The Predator).

One of my favourite Hoffmann films. Probably in my top 20 greats of all time. Hoffman is fabulous. Particularly like the little groans Hoffman lets out when he finally gets his hands on a decent shotgun.

What a gem of a channel🖤 You guys remind me of my friends and i breaking down films we love & HATE 😅 ever seen “Ravenous”? Such a gem, not sure why it popped in my head just then

That was brilliant! I've seen this film a bunch of times over the decades and it definitely never loses it's edge. Hoffman's best performance in my book. I love your passion and insights into the characters and the world they inhabit. The film is the perfect depiction of a man who has no place in which he can truly be free, and the only thing he has is the delusion off of which he feeds that he can use his criminal talents to make a big score and then live the life he imagines. We know from the start that things will go south, but we go along for the ride because the movie is so compelling, brutal, honest, and bleakly funny at moments that we can't turn away. Really great review fellas. I just subscribed. Thanks!!

Rebrand: Two Fucking Hours!😂

Came across this film after watching Paul Schraders " Hardcore." Straight Time was such a great film! Been very much into 70's films. do you have any other recommendations? looking for overlooked gems

This is one of those films that I’ve read a lot about, but never actually seen it. I sometimes find reviews even more interesting than the actual film, but I’d really love to check this one out. I read that Dustin was disappointed in the marketing of this, and that he directed for a day or so:)

The 19-goddamn-70s, when men were men, and to hell with the circumstances, when men robbed jewellery stores without fear of contraception.

And, the Jon Voight character in Heat is modeled on Bunker! Great one. I humbly request (and challenge) that you consider doing 1FH on Repo Man. You know you want to.