Main Cast: George Segal, Karen Black, Paula Prentiss, Jay Fletcher, Hector Elizondo
Release Year: 1971
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Born to Win is the grimly ironic title of this jet-black comedy about heroin addicts. George Segal plays Jay Jay, an ex-hairdresser who struggles to support his expensive drug habit. To avoid arrest, Jay Jay turns "narc," informing on his fellow junkies. Eventually Jay Jay's sense of self-hatred threatens to overwhelm him. Also released as Born to Lose and Addict, Born to Win was the first American film for Czech director Ivan Passer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Robert De Niro - Danny; Ed Madsen - Detective; Marcia Jean Kurtz - Marlene; Irving Selbst - Stanley; Sylvia Syms - Cashier; Jane Elder - Girl's Mother; Burt Young; Max Brandt
Credit
Murray P. Stern - Art Director, Albert Wolsky - Costume Designer, Ivan Passer - Director, Ralph Rosenblum - Editor, William S. Fisher - Composer (Music Score), Richard C. Kratina - Cinematographer, Jack Priestley - Cinematographer, Robert Greenhut - Production Manager, Philip Langner - Producer, Jerry Tokofsky - Producer, Dennis L. Maitland - Sound/Sound Designer, David Scott Milton - Screenwriter, Ivan Passer - Screenwriter
The film follows Jay Jay (Segal), a former hair dresser who has become a drug addict. He lives his new life by doing deals for Vivian (Elizondo) from time to time. One day he meets Parm (Black), a free spirited girl. The two fall in love. Jay Jay's drug habit grows, and he soon resorts to robbery. On the threat of arrest, he works alongside two dirty policemen by becoming a narc, and reports on his former fellow junkies. Yet, as the movie continues, Jay Jay sinks deeper into turmoil with feelings of self-hatred.
Born to Win received primarily mediocre reviews but many critics did make note that there was a form of brilliance within it. Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert said of the film, "...a good-bad movie that doesn't always work but has some really brilliant scenes."[1] Roger Greenspun of New York Times wrote, "...is only Passer's second movie, and it is a dreadful disappointment — but not without its reasons, and not, I think, without some honor."[2]
