It was a great movie, but even with the mustache, Hoffman did not seem quite right for the role of a hardened career criminal and ex-con. I think his Midnight Cowboy buddy, Jon Voight, might have been a better choice. He even looks a little like Edward Bunker, the author of the original story, now that he is old. In 78, Voight was just as big a star as Hoffman, if not moreso.
shareWeirdly enough, he played a character he based on Edward Bunker in the film Heat.
shareI just noticed that now after posting my OP, when I was reading about Bunker on Wikipedia! Weird indeed!
shareAnd he played alongside Ed Bunker in the great 1985 film 'Runaway Train' (based on a story by Akira Kurosawa...), where they both play inmates.
The coda after the film's epilogue is even taken from the 'Richard III' quote from which Ed Bunker took the title for his book 'No Beast So Fierce' and on which Straight Time was based.
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NOBODY....I LOVE THIS FILM...HOFFMAN IS THE MAIN REASON.
shareI thought Hoffman pulled it off just great. Others may've had trouble being a believable love interest for Theresa Russell, who was also great. Vulnerable yet tough.
A few years later, Busey would've been good in that role. At this time, though he was perfect as Willie.
Maybe Jimmy Caan?
That was my only hang up with him as Max…Theresa Russell was way out of his league. The character she played wasn’t even a single mom, let alone a prostitute or junkie where she would have had low self esteem and lowered her standards.
Dustin did a great job overall as Max.
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De Niro. I mean, Max Dembo and Neil McCauley are very similar individuals.
shareI get that this was a kind of departure for Hoffman at the time, playing a career criminal. He had previously never shown that side of his persona in movies. And he is fairly diminutive. Not really most people's first choice for this kind of role.
But I think its a testament to Hoffmans acting ability that he pulled it off. He got that sense of desperation, of constantly being on edge, an ex-con who has trouble fitting in to society, especially newly released from prison.
And when he loses his temper its all the more shocking because you don't see it coming, because he's quiet and softly spoken.
It's a movie I revisit many times.
Plenty of criminals are short.
It’s the fight in the dog, as they say.
Hoffman is absolutely frightening in this.
A smoldering rage behind dead eyes that could flame up and out any second.