Born to Win

Plot synopsis:
The film starts with a thirty-old not-very-good-looking man preparing some joints.Days and nights are touch and go for JJ (George Segal) a petty thief and heroin addict who runs errands and commits robberies to support his habit.He met his girl friend Parm (Karen Black) one night while stealing her car. They have a sexy-kinda conversation and Parm lets him to sleep in her flat. They will stick together through everything JJ gets involved in. While delivering a package of illicit drugs for local drug dealer and pimp Vivian (Hector Elizondo), JJ decides to steal it but is caught by the police. He runs away and hides inside a laundramat dryer machine, but detective Danny (Robert DeNiro) puts the machine to work and waits for him to go out non-chalantly.Finally caught, the police agree to let him go if JJ turns "narc" and sets up the Geek in a sting operation with detective Danny (Robert De Niro), something Jay Jay doesn't want to do because he feels it will ensure his death. JJ arranges a meeting between himself and Vivian. Vivian tells him to go to Kennedy airport the following morning at 9 o'clock for a 800-dollar package.Before doing the "deed", he goes to sleep with Parm, and she says she loves another man during the fastfood dinner they share, but then she says it's a joke. The next morning, when JJ leaves for the airport, she wants to go with him as she is afraid that something dangerous is going to happen to him. JJ tries to convince her to stay at home, saying that it'll a twenty-year sentence for her if she gets caught. Parm threatens him to shout so much that the neighbours will call for the police, so he has to take her with him.A businessman-dressed man (Vic Ramos) gives JJ a briefcase with the drug in the parking of the airport. Parm and that man eye each other with distrust. The exchange happens at another parking, and when Parm asks whether the maffia is involved, the answer is "no". The police appear and they have to run away. Parm is taken by the police, but JJ is left free. The drug dealers hit him until they are convinced hes' telling the truth. The boss dealer tells JJ to undress, and that he'll get his clothes back when he is capable of returning the drugs. They give JJ a fancy and glamurous lady's nightgown and he is imprisoned in one of the rooms of their flat. From there, JJ tries to say something to his neighbrours. The two lady neighbours, a young girl (Jane Elder) and her mother (Diane Molneri), they finally call the police because they think he's a pervert of some kind.When the police arrive, the ensuing shooting gives an opportunity for JJ to escape, dressed in the women's nightgown. He goes to an exclusive executive clothing shop, and he dresses himself up with a pair of trousers and a nice shirt. The shop assistant (Max Brandt) realises that something weird is going on, but JJ asks him what he's gonna do about it and leaves with his new clothes on, with the price tags still on them.He goes to Parm once again. In the snowed freezing beach they are alone, hugging and kissing. He says he wants some payment for his twenty-year spenditure. Parm asks him what he really wants, if money is so important to him. She hummers a tune, a soft ballad. Parm ends up hugging him as if he were a baby.JJ feels the need, his habit kicking back in. He has to go to the diner which is the front for petty drug dealing business. There, in the back yard, JJ wakes his friend Billy (Jay Fletcher) from his drugged sopour. With some difficulty, they find somebody eager to sell them some drugs. They want to share them, so they go to a public restroom. While JJ is preparing his dose, Billy takes his dose first and they immediately make him feel sick. JJ tries to take Billy to hospital but as soon as they reach the lift Billy drops dead. JJ runs away leaving Billy's body in the lift, preventing the lift doors to close. JJ runs like a maniac through the streets until he gets to Parm's flat.JJ and Parm decide to leave New York and on the way they are stopped by the police who arrest Parm for possession of drugs. The police officer in civilian clothes accompanying Danny (Ed Madsen) says that Parm looks like a hooker. They search Parm's car without a warrant. JJ shouts so another police officer punckes him in his belly. She was driving and it was her car, so she is taken in the back seat of the police car.JJ is left alone, without anywhere to go to or lie down. The gossip has spread and nobody wants to sell shit to him. In a seedy bar, JJ has to beg for some drugs. Even Vivian's girlfriend Veronica (Paula Prentiss), feels sorry for him. She still feels some warmth towards him, but the harsh reality of life prevents her from trying to help him in any way.JJ is given some drugs by Geek, but the former feels sure they are bad and that they are designed to kill him. However, he is also so driven by his addiction and the film ends with JJ freezing while sitting in a park bench, tremble half because of the freezing cold and half because of his need for drugs.What will he decide?

Tags: melodrama

Review:
Passer displays a lot of talent in this movie, but I know little about his subsequent work apart from his 80s sleeper starring John Heard and Jeff Bridges 'Cutter's Way', which I also highly recommend.
George Segal will surprise a lot of people with his performance in 'Born To Win', especially those who only have a one dimensional idea of him from his comedy work.
Segal plays JJ, a hairdresser turned junkie hipster, who is, well one has to say it, a born loser.
Segal is both funny and cool and sad, and he's just as good in this as Pacino, De Niro or Keitel were in more celebrated roles from this period.
Hector Elizondo has a much more important part as a drug pusher, and Karen Black, hot off 'Five Easy Pieces', plays JJ's girlfriend, who he meets in a funny scene where he steals her car.
Also in the supporting cast are Paula Prentiss ('The Parallax View') who plays JJ's junkie wife, and one of the first jobs for character actor Burt Young, who plays a hood.
If you like gritty and realistic 1970s movies you'll love 'Born To Win', a film which doesn't deserve to languish in such obscurity..
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.
George Segal is at the center as J, a heroin addict who spends his time visualizing new plans for his next fix.
Segal's character has never called a shot in his life, yet he knows from years of experience how it will turn out, with him behind the 8-ball.
Hector Elizondo, Robert De Niro, Paula Prentiss and JJ's main junkie pal Billy (Jay Fletcher) exist to keep the downward spiral swirling.
This one obviously wasn't; from the outset, with its dated music and hokey effects, you can be sure you're in for low-tech.What sets Born to Win apart is its solid writing and steady, well-thought out performances.
Karen Black is winning, and with the two of them in the lead, the rest of the movie skims along well.
I found myself ignoring the stiff camera work and the Sly and the Family Stone-styled soundtrack to actually watch actors act, to see them sometimes apparently ad-lib entire sequences and do it with gusto.De Niro is too young for the part in which he's cast, and it shows.
Born to Win should be the movie that argues against Seagal and Black being marginalized in film history as also-rans--Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller would both do well to take a look at this before they try another independent, just to see what people of their caliber were doing 30 years ago with nothing more than a cheap camera, a couple of lights and a boom mic.
George Segal, one of the genius actors of the late 60's and 70's, gives an incredible performance as "J" the junkie, AFTER establishing himself as the comic everyman for five years.
He's already done King Rat in 1965 and was nominated in 1966 for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, I won't even list this dude's accomplishments in a VERY timely era and film space and he was very good.
Paula Prentiss (AS ALWAYS) is wonderful, Hector Elizondo, Karen Black and a host of New York unknown stage actors will blow you away with this film.
OH, I FORGOT, Robert DeNiro is GREAT in this in a small role (but a good one).Nobody cares about junkies ...and why should they?
This film isn't about street fixers; it's about New York City in that time period.
It has everything the other COOL films of the 70's had, except marketing - and it blows away Panic in Needle Park with Pacino and Kitty Wynn (a good film), but the message wasn't LEFT or RIGHT enough, even to the people who appreciated that great era of AMERICAN films and this one (like many) was directed by a FOREIGNER (a great director).
'BORN TO WIN' Is a Downbeat, but Somewhat very funny look at drug addicts, in New York, The ever Excellent George Segal, plays JJ a former Hairdresser,Who is fixed on heroin,and with him on his quest for the perfect fix is his pal played by Jay Fletcer,One night on the streets JJ is attempting to steal a car,but is amusingly caught by the owner who is played by the free spirited Karen Black,who brings Segal home together the pair fall for each other despite Segal's, desperate Heroin ridden antics,Cult Favorite Paula Prentiss,(The Original Stepford Wives) plays JJ's former wife who is Highly strung, unfortunately she becomes property of the local pimp and supplier 'geek' played by Hector Elizondo, One scene in this classic that's worth mentioning is Segal's superb knack for physical comedy is the 'take your clothes off' scene, that see's Segal, at the mercy of the supplier's the scene where Segal attempts to get the attention of the teenager across at the adjacent apartment is a hoot!
A Very Young Robert De' Niro, plays an undercover cop out to bust JJ,Don't be fooled by the many DVD's available of this classic with 'De Niro on the cover Segal is the Star!.
George Segal does an excellent performance as a small time addict who is powerless to overcome what he has become.
His relationship with Black is doomed (by the way, she comes across as a pretty interesting character) because when it is a contest between the drugs and her, she is going to come in a distant second, even thought intellectually, it sounds pretty sad.
George Segal was really a hot actor at this time, even in a minor picture like this shows his talents..
It may have been made on a low budget, but that's no reason why the only way to see it anymore is on disgracefully butchered videotapes that leave the story in fragments and turn the color photography into mush (I doubt it was quite this bad when originally released).I recall from Pauline Kael's review back when it came out that "Born to Win" was dumped on the market and hardly got an audience even then.
And Ivan Passer can finally get some good projects to work on?On the critical note, and having seen both Born to Win and Midnight Cowboy again recently, I can say that Passer's film holds up a hell of a lot better than Schlesinger's rather more pretentious contraption.
"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.
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.
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..
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.
This film was directed by Ivan Passer who is a competent director but has only had a mediocre career making movies.
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.
All the performances are pretty good and I would have been interested in seeing Prentiss in a larger role.
George Segal is in top form as JJ, a Heroin addict on the streets of NYC in 1971.
The real joy in this movie is George Segal's performance as JJ.
The film had to wait 28 years before i had seen it first in may 1999 as a replacement for Hitchcock-Film in the night beginning at 1.30 am in german television.And i thought i must say, that is was a good decision to see this movie, because for 1971-Film it was very provocative and the performances of George Segal, Jay Fletcher were good.So look at it..
The acting by George Segal and Karen Black are excellent.
This is George Segal's film, a very good actor.
George Segal plays Times Square junkie "J", a smack addict who is set up for a fall by his supplier, a slick street hustler named Vivian (Hector Elizondo).
Czech director Ivan Passer's first American film was a personal project for Segal, whose fledgling production company put the deal together (it was originally a very-off Off-Broadway play entitled "Scraping Bottom" by David Scott Milton, who shares the screenplay credit with Passer).
One gets the impression Segal was willing to go all the way with this material, but that maybe someone talked him into softening this low-life portrait; he's too clear in his thinking, in his decision-making and in his dealings with the cops to make a truly convincing junkie.
There's talent all around Segal, including Paula Prentiss as another addict, Karen Black as Segal's square girlfriend, Robert DeNiro as a narc and Burt Young as a hood, but it's really Elizondo's picture.
Even though Passer filmed on the gritty streets of New York City, it is Elizondo who provides the movie with its dash of dangerously cool authenticity.
I've seen Karen Black in several roles where I didn't care for the character she portrayed.
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.
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.
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.
George Segal is J, a hairdresser who is hooked on heroin and becomes the patsy for a pair of crooked detectives to expose the supplier of J's drug habit and almost ruins his life in the process.
Paula Prentiss, Hector Elizondo, Jay Fletcher, and Karen Black as J's flaky girlfriend.
Robert DeNiro also shows up as one of the dirty-dealing cops and Burt Young in a non-speaking role as a hood.
I like these old B-Movies from the 1970's they're the kind that used to show on cable TV at 3:00AM "Born To Win" is a cool movie to watch when you're bored and have nowhere to go on a Saturday night.The story revolves around a junkie named JJ who spends most of his time doing small jobs for drug dealers, and getting paid with dope.There's a real 70's feel to this movie, with lots of funky music, dealers and druggies, walkin' the walk and talking' the talk!Featuring a very young Robert Deniro as Danny!..
George Segal delivers a fine performance, and it was interesting seeing him in a purely dramatic role after getting used to seeing him on "Just Shoot Me."  He basically carries the film, but even he can't save it entirely.
DeNiro has a very small role in "Born to Win" as a cop.
I wouldn't be surprised if I find "Born to Win" playing on the Late Night Movie around 3 in the morning.
It has its moments, like Segal running around New York City in a pink dress (hilarious!!), but not enough to make it even an OK movie.
The main character played by George Segal, JJ, is a junkie whose main goal in life is to get fixed everyday.
It's too bad that the part of George Segal is not so believable as a junkie, because it's not written well.
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.
Karen Black and George Segal meeting the first time as he tries to steal her car..
If you want to learn why George Segal movies are no longer watched, this is a great opportunity.
George Segal gives an outstanding performance as a junkie muddling through a bleak existence in Manhattan circa 1971.
Segal gives a remarkable performance and the direction by Czech Ivan Passer is great.
Black is fine and Jay Fletcher is terrific as Segal's junkie cohort.
Born To Win is a black comedy that was released more than forty years ago about a life of a drug addict.It stars a talented cast in George Segal,Karen Black,Paula Prentiss, Hector Elizondo and Robert De Niro.
George Segal, Karen Black, Hector Elizondo, Paula Prentiss, Robert DeNiro and Burt Young - can you come up with a better lineup for the early Seventies?
That generally happens when one of the defining scenes involves a spaced out junkie (Segal) attempting to steal a car on the street, and the owner (Black) comes off accepting it as kind of cute.
***SPOILERS*** Brutal gritty as well as funny, in its more light hearted scenes, "Born to Win" is about a loser Mr. J, George Seagal, who's addiction to drugs finally catches up with him.
That's when Mr. J outlives his usefulness to his big time drug supplier known as "The Geek", Hector Elizondo, and the two narcotic cops Ed Medsen and his partner Danny, played by a 27 year old Robert De Niro, who are using Mr.J. to set "The Geek" up.Trying to kick the habit Mr. J knows his addiction will eventually kill him but him kicking it is easier said then done.
There's also the free spirited Parm, Karen Black, who for some strange reason gets the hots for the shaggy dog looking Mr.J after she caught him trying to steal her car in midtown Manhattan.
Nowhere as good and as "Panic in Needle Park" which was released the same year but still hits the spot in what hard drug addiction, that seemed to have become hip at the time, can do to a person who thinks he can handle it.
There's a great cast- Segal, Prentiss, and Black are all excellent- and Robert De Niro is young and clean cut in a supporting role.
I guess George Segal wanted to show that he could play gritty after getting typecast as a light comedian- and he is terrific- but there's a completely flat non-ending ending, and it's all pretty depressing.
I question the casting of charmers like Paula Prentiss and Karen Black- who both look fab- as the point of the film seems to be to deglamourise this lifestyle.