Overview
A man struggles to leave his criminal past behind, but the system makes it nearly impossible.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- gritty
- fatalistic
- tense
- serious movie night
- 1970s cinema marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as a lean, gripping, unusually realistic ex-convict thriller anchored by Dustin Hoffman's performance, though some found its direction sluggish and Max increasingly unsympathetic.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Max's halfway-house rules, employment difficulties, and escalating confrontations with parole officer Earl Frank make supervision a central source of pressure.
The film treats Max and his associates as recognizable people with desires, routines, and emotional limitations, a quality highlighted by critics.
Max wants to go straight but repeatedly struggles with parole conditions, authority, old associates, and his own inflexible behavior.
The Los Angeles locations, employment searches, halfway-house life, and criminal activity are staged with a lean, vividly realistic tone.
Films like Straight Time, and why
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
gritty ex-con drama centered on reintegration, criminal identity, and unsentimental social realism
Mean Streets
grounded crime drama portraying criminals as ordinary, psychologically complex people rather than genre caricatures
Dog Day Afternoon
bleak, realistic portrait of a career criminal constrained by institutions and his own fatalism
Movie Details
- Director
- Ulu Grosbard
- Release Date
- 1978-03-18
- Runtime
- 114 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (220)
Cast
- Dustin Hoffman
- Theresa Russell
- Gary Busey
- Harry Dean Stanton
- M. Emmet Walsh
- Rita Taggart
- Kathy Bates
- Sandy Baron
- Jake Busey
- Peter Kwong
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Straight Time about?
- A newly paroled career criminal's fragile attempt at an honest life collapses under institutional pressure, old loyalties, and his own hard-wired defiance.
- What is Straight Time like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Straight Time as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Straight Time violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Straight Time as moderate.
- What did critics think of Straight Time?
- Critics broadly praised the film as a lean, gripping, unusually realistic ex-convict thriller anchored by Dustin Hoffman's performance, though some found its direction sluggish and Max increasingly unsympathetic.
- Which films are like Straight Time?
- Films with a similar feel include The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Mean Streets, and Dog Day Afternoon.
- How long is Straight Time?
- Straight Time runs 114 minutes.
- Where can I watch Straight Time?
- In United States, Straight Time is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
