i must have seen a different film!!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

. . . American womenfolk against the Real Life threats posed by its lead actor? Some people will view STRAIGHT TIME as only that, seeing as how the beleaguered Dustin Hoffman's "Max Dembow" character man-handles the soft-hearted "Jenny," after drinking directly from the quart carton of milk in her refrigerator and just before stealing her baby blue Mustang convertible. An actor who would agree to play a misogynist doing all of this surely has a screw loose; no one would trust such a jerk with their own daughter in Real Life. However, many perceptive viewers have realized that Warner Bros. is extending a warning to we folks of the future that the white female voting demographic--such as STRAIGHT TIME's Jenny--cannot be trusted at the ballot box. In a country that has given this group Title IX, Choice, and ObamaCare, most of them will gravitate to the Max-like "bad boy" (the worse the better) in preference to one of their own, such as Elizabeth Warren, Jane Fonda, or Hillary Clinton. Just wait, Warner warns the USA, if you continue with this trial run of "Women's Suffrage," you'll surely wind up with a president like Hoffman, if not a twice-divorced self-proclaimed serial finger-raping paycheck welsher tax cheat Russian spy.

"Straight Time" portrays the difficulties facing a parolee in readjusting to society after serving time in prison. It's basically a no-win situation from the get-go. Dustin Hoffman (believable ex-con) has a meeting with sleaze-ball Parole Officer (M Emit Walsh) leading to inevitable return to life of crime with fellow mal-adjusted friends played well by Harry Dean Stanton and Gary Busey. Before slipping back full-time into the criminal underworld, Hoffman meets young Theresa Russell, a secretary at an employment agency, who's along for the ride as long as it's enjoyable. Directed by Ulu Grosbard, the focus is on the limitations of trying to live a straight life in a society offering such meager rewards (see the dump Busey shares with his kid and young Cathy Bates) which makes the possibility of prison a risk worth taking. Hoffman tries his best to make it, but easily returns to his acquaintances and the bars where they hang out, where the film really excels as an example of a gritty 70s crime drama.

A lot to appreciate here. The film is a great character study of a man (Dustin Hoffman) who has been in and out of jail since he was 12. Now he is out on parole and wants to live a decent life but he locks horns with an inefficient and sadistic parole officer which puts him back on the path of crime.The film boasts of some really tense heist scenes. And some realistic car chases. A lot of scenes are shot around fast food joints, cafes and bars.Theresa Russell is easy on the eyes as the jailbird's square girlfriend. Gary Buesy, Harry Dean Stanton and M.Emmet Walsh form the stellar supporting cast. A young and attractive Kathy Bates plays Busey's wife. Hoffman plays the tough hero in his own unique way.I love the sentimental score by David Shire.I read in the trivia section that Michael Mann worked on the script. I wonder whether the book inspired Thief. I have read the novel by Edward Bunker - No Beast So Fierce on which this film is based. It was also quite good.I have a soft corner for films like Straight Time and Sherry Baby where the protagonist is out of jail and trying to fit back into society.(8/10)

Wow, I am reading all the glowing reviews and I am completely flummoxed. This film just did not take me to the place. Try as I did, I just couldn't imagine Hoffman as a true 'tough guy'. Maybe it's my familiarity with his person but all I could see was a soft spoken, intellectual type of guy trying to act tough. Didn't work. The parole officer M. Emmet Walsh, who typically comes across as cartoonish in films, ends up tied to a fence sans pants. Really? The scene is so unreal in a film that tries desperately to be real. Two key roles, friend Jerry and friend Willy never really get developed. Why is a fellow criminal such as Willy so incompetent. And why would Jerry risk so much when Max is also time and again shown to be incompetent at crime. Hoffman is miscast. Screenplay is porous and predictable.