“Straight Time” (1978): Navigating a Crooked Path

Are some men born to be criminals? Is it in their DNA? A destiny to which they are inexorably fated? I don’t know. However, I don’t find the notion utterly preposterous.

Are some women helpless in their attraction to these guys? To always see the good. To believe that they will change. That theywill be the one to save this wayward soul from a life lived on the run. Once more, don’t ask me. And yet, again it seems that there is ample evidence to support this premise, as well.

Screen legend Dustin Hoffman and Theresa Russell as ex-con Max and working drone Jenny provide a perfect example of this desperately dysfunctionaldynamic in the dramatic crime thriller “Straight Time”. Ya root like hell for this pair of society's fringe dwellers to cash in the chips always weighing them down and make a go of it together. Whenall along you know this is about as far from a fairy tale romance as it gets.

Still...maybe?

Soon Max is savaged by his true nature, pent up rage unleashed and unbridled, a career criminal succumbing to aprimordial purpose. Hoffman gives us a fury-fueled spirit possessed in these scenes. There is achilling look of demons seldom dormant in Max’s eyes as he rants and ravages, stealing whatever he wants. From whomever he chooses. As much as he can gather in the frenzied seconds before that inevitable intrusion of law enforcement. Consequences ever be damned.

These are the only options Max has ever known. Or ever will.

Either choice, offering precious little time to “go straight”.