Born to Win

I've seen Karen Black in several roles where I didn't care for the character she portrayed. The thoroughly dependent and constantly whining waitress she played in Five Easy Pieces was a good example. You could understand why Jack Nicholson had trouble committing to a serious relationship with her. In Born to Win, however, she is easily the most likable personality in the film. How many women would start an affair with a man who was attempting to steal her car? Her beauty, her sense of humor, and her spirit shine through immediately and continue throughout. George Segal's unrepentant junkie character, who lost his wife to a sleazy, backstabbing, pimping drug dealer, somehow manages to charm us more than most of the other actors, including the police, who think nothing of planting evidence on anyone they feel like at the moment. There is something hip about this movie, not because it glorifies heroin addiction, which it certainly does not, but because it seems to show a slice of New York life in a fairly realistic manner. The death of JJ's best friend, Billy, from "a hot shot" that was meant for JJ, the armed "take offs" that the dopers pull on one another simply because they really need a fix or are having a bad day (with no offense otherwise intended), the way the corrupt cops are portrayed, the shots of the city, too often grimy yet somehow alluring -- this is interesting cinema. I think I bought this DVD for a buck and have watched it a number of times. It's a good movie.

One of the great joys of being a movie addict is loving unreasonably. There's probably no rational way to convey my adoration for this 1971 Ivan Passer movie, which was made for nothing back in the day when movies like this actually could get made and released--today, it'd be shot on digital video in someone's basement and never see the light of day. George Segal gives one of the performances of his career as J, a hairdresser turned heroin addict who vamps his way through the day with a torrent of improvised Lenny Bruce hipsterisms. Karen Black is the "straight," broken girl who falls in love with him for no good reason except that he's broken too--I can't think of a more haunting moment in a movie romance than the one where she drops him off in midtown Manhattan to score dope and implores, "J--remember to come back home." The movie fleetly conveys the romance, the soft-edgedness and wombiness of heroin--and then in short order takes you all the way down to the bitterest consequences. And it reminds you of the beauties of hard-knuckle, dirty-formica naturalism--pleasures unavailable to more stylized or more conceptual pictures. Has there ever been an actress as free as Karen Black? The way she lifts up ten fingers, over and over again, to count off the number of men she's slept with; or the strange little hair-bite she does when she oaths her love to Segal on the beach--everything is as fresh and unaffected and right as if it were playing out in your living room right this minute. The locations, the smoky, salty, funereal-blues soundtrack--Ivan Passer can't put a foot wrong in this movie. Why is this guy not being given all the work in the world? And why is this movie not acclaimed a masterpiece in a world where rusty chestnuts by Rafelson and Bogdanovich are still held in high esteem?

Poor JJ, every time he scores some junk or pulls a job he gets screwed over. It's not easy being a junkie, but it CAN be funny!! This movie is listed as a drama but it flows like a well made comedy. If you can overlook the so-so editing, lighting, and cinematography you will be able to relax and enjoy an extremely well acted film. The dialogue is superb. George Segal is in top form as JJ, a Heroin addict on the streets of NYC in 1971. Robert De Niro has a supporting role as an undercover vice cop. I haven't looked it up yet but I assume that this is one of De Niro's first films as his name doesn't appear in the credits until about the halfway point. De Niro does the best he can with the small role he's given but keep in mind that this isn't a De Niro film. The real joy in this movie is George Segal's performance as JJ. He plays an excellent dope-fiend. Both JJ and Billy Dynamite (Jay Fletcher) are in love with the needle. Billy Dynamite put it best: "It's like we have a purpose in life. Every morning we wake up and know EXACTLY what we're gonna do... hustle up another bag!!!... "I wouldn't trade this life for nothing man... Nothing!!" It's almost as if he genuinely loves being an an addict. JJ (Segal) has been up to no good and is afraid someone might try to pass him a hotshot. A "hotshot" is a shot of heroin that the dealer has cut with strychnine or battery acid. The sole purpose of giving someone a hotshot is kill them, and JJ has a couple of dealers that would like to see him dead. Does JJ get the hotshot... or not??? I won't tell. Check it out and see for yourself!

******** (8 out of 10 stars)

While low budget filmmakers in California were making films like "Psych-out" and "The Trip" with Fonda and Nicholson and Hopper it was different in New York. Low budget filmmakers on the east coast took a more tougher look at drugs and it usually took place on the streets of New York. This film is about a drug addict named J (George Segal) who has the tattoo "Born to Win" on his arm and he's always doing favors for a local dealer named Vivian (Hector Elizondo) who is becoming annoyed by J. One day J meets Parm (Karen Black) who is a free spirited girl and they both become attracted to each other right away. J is becoming more desperate and he even resorts to robbing some of the people he does favors for. Two dirty cops (Robert Deniro and Ed Madsen) tell J that they want to bust Vivian and they want him to help. They won't bust J because they want to keep him on the streets but they do make his life even worse than it is. This film was directed by Ivan Passer who is a competent director but has only had a mediocre career making movies. But he does a good job here and all the characters are portrayed as lowlifes. Even Paula Prentiss is a drug addict in this film and it's a strange bit of casting to have her in such a role. Good use of New York locations as it was shot right in the middle of downtown and it gives this film that authentic street look. One of the reasons that this is interesting to view is spotting the actors in early roles. Segal had already broke through with an Oscar nomination in 1966 and he obviously was trying new ground as an actor and Black was fresh off an Oscar nomination herself. Early look at Deniro and Elizondo and Burt Young pops up as a thug about midway through. This has that sad and ambiguous ending but that adds to the impact of this tough and gritty little film. All the performances are pretty good and I would have been interested in seeing Prentiss in a larger role. This doesn't get discussed much when people talk of the New York films of the 1970's but it is a well made low budget entry that others should view.

I'm a huge fan of Robert De Niro. I've made an effort to hunt down all of his older films (like Greetings and the awful "Sam's Song" a.k.a. "The Swap") and have done pretty well so far - I saw "Born to Win" at a grocery store for six bucks on DVD and since I'd seen it listed on IMDb as one of his early films (and after making sure it wasn't one of the countless "other titles" for "Sam's Song") I purchased it.

Much to my surprise (well, not really, I kinda suspected as much) the cover was totally deceiving. It features Robert De Niro's face (from another film, mind you), his hand holding a gun. It says, "ROBERT DE NIRO" and "George Segal" in smaller print underneath his name. The tagline on the DVD is something like, "A junkie goes against a cop trying to bring down Mr. Big." Now, mind you, no one in this film is named Mr. Big, and the junkie (Segal) doesn't "go against" the cop. De Niro the Cop is only in TWO scenes (count 'em, two) and has maybe a page's worth of dialogue, if that.

The film relies on Segal and he really delivers a fine performance. The entire cast is good - Hector Elizondo and Karen Black in supporting roles, as well as a younger Burt Young (pre-"Rocky").

This isn't a great film and it isn't superbly directed. It's a bit hard to watch at times due to a grainy transfer and bad audio. But it's reminiscent of Al Pacino's "Panic in Needle Park" so far as it presents a realistic, gritty, depressing vision of junkies operating on the streets, and how miserable your life can become by resorting to drugs (mainly heroin).

A good, rewarding picture - but don't be fooled by the title, nor Leonard Maltin's description of it as a "very funny" comedy.