Excellent.

Straightforward 'out of jail, back to crime' story lifted to greater heights by a wonderful cast. Stylistically unremarkable, but I liked the slow buildup to Hoffman's decisions and reveals about his darker side.

I don't know enough about Hoffman or 70s American filmmaking to properly critique this. I will say, though, that Theresa Russell is very pretty, the robbery sequences are very intense and Hoffman might be doing an impression of Wes Craven. I should mention that I saw this because when Criticker recommended it for me, I looked though all of Ulu Grosbard's movies and every single one of them sounded awesome, so expect me to watch more by him in the future.

The gradual reveal of the depth of Denbo's cruelty is inspired.

What's the message of this movie, is it once a criminal, always a criminal? That any little thing can make an ex-con fall off the wagon and fall back to his old ways? I should have been disgusted with this movie, but the acting was so good, I was engaged the whole time.

The film at first tries to convince us that Dembo is a smart, well-meaning guy who just made a few mistakes in life. But it sure doesn't take much to steer him back to crime. I just didn't have any sympathy for him. That aside, it's a very watchable film, especially the inside looks at the jail and the crimes. The cast is full of interesting character actors, but the weak link is Theresa Russell, an actress I've never liked. The direction is rather unremarkable, too.

Okay, here's what I call casting. Nevermind Hoffman who's already an established star and Busey who's just okay, but pre-Nick-Roeg Theresa Russell, pre-Paris-Texas Harry Dean Stanton and even a young Kathy Bates... that's just visionary. The movie is nothing out of the ordinary but very well-made.

Ex-Con Hoffman finds parole too hard to deal with and is driven back to crime. Brilliant and gritty heist thriller that inspired Resrvoir Dogs.

Dustin Hoffman is totally miscast here as a supposed hardened badass criminal (he's actually supposed to be Eddie Bunker, believe it or not). BUT, fans of Roger Ebert's "Stanton-Walsh rule" will be fascinated to know that this is the only movie to star both E. Emmet Walsh AND Harry Dean Stanton

1970s American film was all about GRIT. Dustin Hoffman and his GRITTY moustache and scraggly sideburns are just perfect.

Remarkable cast. Hoffman, Stanton, Bates, good ol Busey and the always nothing short of exceptional M. Emmet Walsh. I mean. Does it get any better? Also manages to somehow combine funky, flashy 70s disco AND gritty, grey images... quite the feat!