From the seventies comes another seventies flick that has a lot to do with drugs and junkies. The main character played by George Segal, JJ, is a junkie whose main goal in life is to get fixed everyday. As a result, everything else is secondly important. His relationship with his girlfriend, and in a surreal way, even the fact that he has children, which is only mentioned in the film two times, and briefly.From the way it starts, we are almost tricked into believing this will be a comedy. Then, from then on, it becomes the tragic portrayal of life on the streets. The footage we see on the screen seem dirty, and the gritty look of the film is meant to add to the brutality of the film. It's too bad that the part of George Segal is not so believable as a junkie, because it's not written well. There's too much emphasis on interaction and not enough emphasis on the characters themselves. The only times when we really see JJ break down is when we don't know what is going to happen to him. Drugs have driven him to a selfishness that is hard to side with. We don't pity him, but we literally hate what he has become.The editing is horrible, hard to believe that it came from the same guy that did the editing for Annie Hall. The direction is careless and throws whatever good there was in the screenplay as of secondary importance, focusing the film around a plot that doesn't exist, and oversthetching the bit in the middle, in making us think that there is a plain plot. The actors are also scattered around loose. Robert DeNiro's presence does nothing for the standards of the cast, he too in fact doesn't know what he is doing. While Segal cannot get away with playing a junkie, possibly because he isn't bony enough, Karen Black as his girlfriend is adorable, but her part is not well written. We know nothing of her.There is no good guy in this movie, and all in all there is little reason to watch it. There are parts that might have an impact, but all in all, there are better movies that deal with the same issues. It was certainly rushed.WATCH FOR THE MOMENT - A charming scene that shows the film had ideas. Karen Black and George Segal meeting the first time as he tries to steal her car.

I would have to say this fine piece of drug-oriented cinema is the reason we have film festivals. Simply amazing. I am surprised Vincent Gallo has not stumbled across the idea of remaking "Born To Win", it would be his third film, furthermore third film in which the title begins with the letter "B". This is a classic picture. An ex-hairdresser gone junkie, walking the streets, doing petty jobs for just one more fix, a man who truly knows the blues, a man who has lost everything, and pulls it off with such style and grace. If Vincent Gallo doesn't do something, then there is a glitch in the system. This film is the reason I started taking movies seriously.. it is the reason I dropped out of school and wanted to be a drug-dealer when I grew up.

"Midnight Cowboy"'s enormous commercial and critical success in 1969 created a ho-hum sub-genre of life on the mean streets of New York City in the early-1970s. In 1971, Al Pacino got a big break in "The Panic in Needle Park" and Robert DeNiro also was able to be recognized in a smaller role in "Born to Win". DeNiro is not the star here though, instead it is George Segal (who had actually received an Oscar nomination for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" back in 1966) who stars as a junkie who has lost it all literally and continues to roam the darkest places of New York just looking for that next high. Karen Black is also along for the long and twisted ride as a woman who is little more than a prostitute herself. DeNiro and fellow detective Ed Madsden go to Segal to try and bring down a heartless drug-dealer/pimp (an early part for Hector Elizondo) that has terrorized the streets for years. "Born to Win" is one of those films that could have been really thought-provoking, but ultimately fails due to the fact that it becomes more of an exploit product by the final act. DeNiro would of course hit super-stardom not long after this and he is arguably the greatest asset here in spite of the fact that his screen-time is not near as great as it should have been. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

This is one I had never heard of, but it is very interesting. The filmmaking style is definitely that of the late 60s' and 70s'. It has an ending one should have known was to going to happen but it is no less jarring to the heart. While you are watching this film of a loser, you are on his side hoping that he will make it. As you laugh at the silly predictable situations our hero gets into, you are still assuming he will make it. Does he make it? See the film. The sound on the DVD I watched was hard to follow at some points but the film is worth the effort.The script is very creative although not entirely successful. There are moments where you can not really believe this could happen but it does. The acting by George Segal and Karen Black are excellent. By the way, drugs were even bad way back in the 70s'.