{"id":15660,"date":"2011-01-24T11:27:15","date_gmt":"2011-01-24T18:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=15660"},"modified":"2020-12-08T21:36:55","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T04:36:55","slug":"born-to-win-1971","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=15660","title":{"rendered":"Born to Win (1971)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;They say I&#8217;m a charmer &#8212; that I charm the people I hustle.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Poster-204x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"204\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-56541\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Poster-204x300.png 204w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Poster-695x1024.png 695w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Poster-87x128.png 87w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Poster-183x270.png 183w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Poster.png 749w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 204px) 100vw, 204px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA heroin addict (George Segal) begins a romance with a woman (Karen Black) whose car he attempts to steal; meanwhile, he tries to secure his next fix while outsmarting his dealer (Hector Elizondo).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alcoholism and Drug Addiction<\/li>\n<li>George Segal Films<\/li>\n<li>Karen Black Films<\/li>\n<li>Paula Prentiss Films<\/li>\n<li>Robert De Niro Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nCzech New Wave director Ivan Passer&#8217;s American film debut was this uneven portrayal of the vagaries of heroin addiction in New York. Shaggy-haired George Segal tries his best but is ultimately unable to generate much interest in his character, given that &#8220;J&#8221; is all the typical things you&#8217;d expect from a heroin addict &#8212; self-absorbed, pathetic &#8212; and thus not really all that sympathetic. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Segal2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Segal2-1024x586.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"366\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-56549\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Segal2-1024x586.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Segal2-300x172.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Segal2-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Segal2-768x439.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Segal2-1536x879.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Segal2-472x270.png 472w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Segal2.png 1627w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>He whines that nothing ever goes right for him in life, but why should it? Meanwhile, everything about his new relationship with Karen Black&#8217;s &#8220;Parm&#8221; feels contrived, starting from the moment she stupidly picks him up in her own car as he&#8217;s attempting to hijack it (hello? how DUMB can you get?). <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Parm.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Parm-1024x585.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"366\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-56543\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Parm-1024x585.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Parm-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Parm-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Parm-768x439.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Parm-1536x877.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Parm-473x270.png 473w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Parm.png 1623w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>She insists almost immediately that she&#8217;s really &#8220;into him&#8221;, yet there&#8217;s absolutely no reason why she should be; while there&#8217;s potential here for portraying an interesting relationship between an addict and a non-addict who&#8217;s desperately curious about the life of drug use (<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=19595\"><em>Panic in Needle Park<\/em><\/a>, anyone?), that&#8217;s merely hinted at rather than exploited fully. <\/p>\n<p>There are a few cleverly bizarre scenes throughout that elevate one&#8217;s interest temporarily, and show evidence of Passer&#8217;s absurdist sensibility: Segal attempting (unsuccessfully) to hide from a cop in a laundromat:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Laundromat.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Laundromat-1024x602.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"376\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-56545\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Laundromat-1024x602.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Laundromat-300x176.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Laundromat-128x75.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Laundromat-768x451.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Laundromat-1536x903.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Laundromat-459x270.png 459w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Laundromat.png 1591w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and Segal attempting (successfully) to escape from the clutches of some drug dealers through creative flashing. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Flashing.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Flashing-1024x589.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"368\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-56548\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Flashing-1024x589.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Flashing-300x173.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Flashing-128x74.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Flashing-768x442.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Flashing-1536x883.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Flashing-470x270.png 470w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Flashing.png 1619w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But ultimately, by the end of this inevitably bleak story, the main point one has taken away is that the world of drug addiction and dealing is brutally dog-eat-dog &#8212; not exactly an earth-shattering revelation. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Robert De Niro has all of maybe 10 minutes of screentime in a tiny role as one of two cops shadowing Segal:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-De-Niro.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-De-Niro-1024x606.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"379\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-56546\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-De-Niro-1024x606.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-De-Niro-300x178.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-De-Niro-128x76.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-De-Niro-768x455.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-De-Niro-1536x910.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-De-Niro-456x270.png 456w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-De-Niro.png 1555w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When the film went into public domain and random copies were produced for sale on DVD, De Niro&#8217;s face was marketed to fill the entire cover, leading would-be viewers (presumably De Niro fans) down the garden-path. Paula Prentiss has just as little screentime; she&#8217;s believable if underused as Segal&#8217;s sorry sack of an ex-wife. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Prentiss.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Prentiss-1024x605.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"378\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-56544\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Prentiss-1024x605.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Prentiss-300x177.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Prentiss-128x76.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Prentiss-768x454.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Prentiss-1536x908.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Prentiss-457x270.png 457w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Born-to-Win-Prentiss.png 1569w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Several original, darkly humorous scenes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; feel free to skip this one unless you&#8217;re curious. Listed as a Sleeper in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0066856\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/born-to-win-1972#:~:text=Ivan%20Passer's%20%22Born%20to,has%20some%20really%20brilliant%20scenes.&#038;text=He%20has%20made%20a%20lot,into%20the%20minor%20classic%20category.\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1971\/10\/11\/archives\/born-to-winczech-film-on-addict-shown-in-festival.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;They say I&#8217;m a charmer &#8212; that I charm the people I hustle.&#8221; Synopsis: A heroin addict (George Segal) begins a romance with a woman (Karen Black) whose car he attempts to steal; meanwhile, he tries to secure his next fix while outsmarting his dealer (Hector Elizondo). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Alcoholism and Drug Addiction George Segal Films Karen Black Films Paula Prentiss Films Robert De Niro Films Review: Czech New Wave director Ivan Passer&#8217;s American film debut was&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=15660\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15660"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56553,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15660\/revisions\/56553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}