Max is the sort of fellow who automatically lies when someone asks him how much rent he pays. It would make no difference if he told the truth, but Max has to keep in practice. The only time he can look someone in the eye with ease is when he stares, through the slits in a face mask—during a holdup.

 

Max is shrewd, self-absorbed, tough in superficial ways, and doomed. He defines the meaning of recidivism. In real life you wouldn't trust him to hang up your coat. In "Straight Time," in the person of Dustin Hoffman, he's a fascinating character, made romantic only to the extent that an actor of such stature invests him with importance that is otherwise denied. Max is strictly small-time.