Adicto

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.

It's interesting to see something as grainy and badly lit as this still bubble to the surface once in a while, particularly in this age of independent films produced on multi-million dollar budgets. 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. George Seagal, who, strangely, might be best remembered as a cliche on the old Tonight Show, has his character down cold. 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. He looks like a child and has none of the edge we associate with his later performances. By Taxi Driver he'd toughened up, lost the baby-fat and the boy-next-door haircut. 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. Well done.

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.

This is one of those movies where there isn't much to pull for. Like Taxi Driver, it takes place in a cesspool. Those who are trapped in their lives have no place to go. The die is cast and that's it. George Segal does an excellent performance as a small time addict who is powerless to overcome what he has become. He hooks up with Karen Black, who accepts him for what he is. She is the one bright spot in his existence. But the power of the drug world has its tentacles in him and no matter how happy he may feel, he can't move from the addiction. The first part of the movie shows his day to day existence. He seems like a good man. He has a kindness in him that comes through on his face. When confronted, he becomes really passive and powerless. The big boys don't see him as a player. There are also a couple of cops who want to use him, one of them being a young DeNiro. 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. Good acting but don't expect an uplifting event. George Segal was really a hot actor at this time, even in a minor picture like this shows his talents.

George Segal's career encompasses a large body of work, spanning decades. I've seen only a few of his movies. "The Hot Rock" was a great ensemble comedy. "Terminal Man", timely and dark, pegs the other end of the spectrum. It's safe to say the 1970s were about challenging the Old Guard. In Hollywood, this meant reinvention and the search for Truth begun anew. From industry insiders all the way down to you and me it's understood "truth in film" is synonymous with or defined as risky and unprofitable, something other than standard fare. And though overused, the phrase 'they don't make 'em like that anymore' is applicable here, because "Born to Win" was produced for reasons other than profit. Its story is roughly drawn and its characters hunger for a pure, painless resolution that you know will never come by the end of the first scene. George Segal is at the center as J, a heroin addict who spends his time visualizing new plans for his next fix. All other characters within his orbit advance his desparation. There's a very palpable truth in the uncertainty the characters feel. They live, but have no lives. 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. Karen Black plays the love interest who extends to him the hope of salvation, only to be swept under. Hector Elizondo, Robert De Niro, Paula Prentiss and JJ's main junkie pal Billy (Jay Fletcher) exist to keep the downward spiral swirling. A refreshing and enjoyable film for people who feel a nostalgia for challenging, resonant stories that strike a chord as pure as a tuning fork.