Customer Reviews

Born to Win

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

DeNiro was only in the movie for a few moments but George Segal is the star and he gives a harrowing and brilliant performance as a hundred dollar a day heroin addict. The film is funny and sad unfortunately utterly truthful. This film forshadowed a whole generation of films about lost souls adrift in our blasted urban landscapes. Its a bit on the morbid side at first but will please you towards the beginning of the second half.

There have been a number of "dope" films that have followed "Born To Win". None have been as searing, honest, funny, and profound as this one. The acting is superb, the writing brilliant, the direction first-rate. This is cinema at its best, powerful filmmaking. George Segals performance is as good as it gets. See it!

This little film from the early seventies stars major film star Robert De niro in a role I'm sure even he can't remember doing along with george segal who plays JJ a sucsessful hairdresser who's hooked on heroerin and runs afoul of the mob. So JJ is up to his neck in trouble when the cops use him to get the goods on a drug smuggler. Absorbing at times very well acted By segal in this somewhat twisted comedy/drama Best scene is when JJ & His friend are shooting up in a washroom in an abandon office floor JJ'S friend overdoses on what he thinks is heroin but instead it's battery acid laced inside the drug meant for JJ. A powerful scene displaying Segal at his efftictive moment in the film. A bittersweet film more regareded and appriciated today then it was first relased over twenty years ago.

I bought this movie for one reason, and that reason is that Robert Deniro was in the movie. I fell asleep after about 45 min. into the movie, which was after Robert Deniro's cameo. If your a big Robert DeNiro fan such as I then you should look into Taxi Driver, Casino, Goodfellas, Midnight Run, Guilty By Suspicion, Ronin, Analyze This, The Fan , and Ragging Bull. Deniro only has a small part in this film, and as much as I love to see Deniro's brillant acting ability this is not the movie to catch him at his best. Deniro fans should look somewhere else.

The dvd of "Born To Win" is being plugged as a DeNiro film, although he only has a small part in it. George Segal is the star and he gives a harrowing and brilliant performance as a $100 a day heroin addict. The film is funny and sad and utterly truthful; made in 1971, it forshadowed a whole generation of films about lost souls adrift in our blasted urban landscapes. In a class of its own.

This movie is excellent if you have the chance to see it in an uncutted version. The DVD I bought misses a very nice scene - girl on the balcony was cut down because of showing to much skin for the US version - this is to bad because it embezzles another great pointe of the movie.

Very good music and great acting.

I was very surprised at the quality of this film. The acting is solid and good, the story quite believable and unpredictable (i.e. not hollywood endingswith love winning, baddies falling, and whatever redemption needed is forthcoming), and there are many future stars in it as young actors.

JJ, just out of prison and a junkie with no life but some friends, meets Karen Black, who accepts him as he is with a wonderful chemistry of laughter and attraction. He has lost his family and there is plenty of regret through all the chemical highs. JJ is always trying to score, and is basically a loser, about to lose again. Black changes this to a degree, but the momentum of JJ's life is too strong for her and eventually brings her down. Segal is entirely convincing, really better than I have ever seen him.

Recommended for the story and for film buffs.

[Keepers Home Video, Inc.]. A shot (apparently taken from a movie frame) of Mr. DeNiro adorns the VHS jacket and so we fans follow that lead. Yes, before Mean Streets, The Godfather II, Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, and the rest, he had small roles in independent films. I'm no expert on that pahse of his career, but "Born To Win", starring George Segal and Karen Black is a *4* star entry: I've never seen Segal play such a textured and complex character so convincingly, you're made to feel like that proverbial fly-on-the-wall, or better put, that guy shadowing him, with a hidden camera, around the unofficial Times Square drug fair of 1971. He is cursed and blessed at the same time. He has a very serious drug problem *and* a strong mind - too bad he uses the later to negotiate the next fix. The cinematography for this presumptive low-budget drama is compelling; here is another minor classic in the documentary-style drama. Ivan Passer maintains the low-key mode throughout. An incredible scene involves Segal's "working" a worker at a Times Square establishment, so as to convince her he is there to remove the safe. A brilliantly executed scene. Robert DeNiro has about 10 minutes on screen as a Detective.
Karen Black, in her own *understated* way, conveys that sense of doom even while she revels in an unexpected, comforting, happy relationship.
"The Swap" is less of a movie, even with the strong cast. (*2* stars). A struggling independent soft-core porn filmmaker is found dead and his Brother sets out to get the facts, while he adjusts to life as an "ex-con". DeNiro appears in some early scenes.

This movie is a classic. OK, it has that semi-low budget feel in the beginning, and you may be wondering after the first 15 minutes if the movie is gonna be worth your time. Keep going! It fully redeems itself! Besides, the shots of New York from that time period are part of what make the film interesting for us 35 years later. That and the whole tone of the film. Anyone who could even slightly appreciate films like Shaft, Foxy Brown or anything from the Soul Cinema collection, should have no trouble getting through the slightly cheesy opening of this film, and into the heart of what makes this movie great. The five stars I give it are for the movie itself and not for DVD production. False advertising aside (don't get it for the sake of DeNiro's cameo), this movie rocks!

p.s. I saw this movie on a European dvd (picture quality and everything was fine) before I ordered it from Lincoln Sound and Disc (soundndisc?) on Amazon - beware of this movie seller! First, the box you see on Amazon (Classic Collection - 1998) and the one you get are different (cover picture not the same). It's not in a standard dvd case (it's a cardboard box!), does not contain chapter stops, and there are spelling mistakes (even De Niro's name is spelt wrong). Finally, the sound quality sounds like it's coming over a bad radio.. can't understand a word. No response when I contacted them about this. I've read other reviews that complain of similar things with this movie (which is fully worth getting), but make sure you go with a seller you trust!

If you liked Drugstore Cowboy, filmed in '89 but set in '71, now you can see "Born to Win", filmed in '71 and nothing to do with '89. Both were good junkie movies but for different reasons. Be warned.. Born to Win starts off a little slow.. film quality, script and acting come off somewhat low-budget. Don't be put off by this. Instead, try to enjoy shots of a 1971 NYC and suspend judgement. Get past the first 15 minutes and your interest is liable to pick up. I found it intriguing, by the first half hour, and continues to get better all the way until its killer ending. And the ending is really crafty and clever - and makes a brutal point. This is the way movies should end - with such a knock-out punch that your brain is reeling from it even hours or days after seeing the movie. This was the case for me, but I didn't come to it for the sake of Robert DeNiro's cameo appearance. This movie is not about DeNiro, so don't come to it for that, or judge it based on his amount of screen time. George Segal and Karen Black are the leads.. and they put in great performances once the movie gets going. But it's the story, it's what happens in the story, that makes this movie so interesting. And clever. If you make it to the ending. This is a really good movie, period, but will be even more enjoyable if you have some appreciation for where it was filmed and when it was made.