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Born to Win

Play trailer Poster for Born to Win R,  1971,  1h 30m,  Comedy/ Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 50% 8 Reviews Tomatometer 34% 500+ Ratings Popcornmeter
50% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 34% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
J. used to be a hairdresser, but now he's found a new profession: heroin junkie. On the mean streets of New York City, he scrounges for his next fix -- mooching from his best friend, Billy Dynamite, and doing odd jobs for a drug dealer known as The Geek. But J. soon finds it more lucrative to work as an informer to the police. Meanwhile, he begins a tenuous romance with Parm, a woman he met while trying to steal her car.

Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker Apr 8, 2025
It’s the first American movie by the Czech director Ivan Passer, who films the city’s street life with fascination while grimly observing the law’s oppressive authority -- and J’s moral degradation through lies and betrayals. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Oct 23, 2004
2.5/4
Born to Win is a good-bad movie that doesn't always work but has some really brilliant scenes. Go to Full Review
David Nusair Reel Film Reviews Jun 17, 2025
3/4
...a meandering character study that does, given its almost excessively familiar trajectory, generally fare better than one might’ve anticipated... Go to Full Review
Robert Sullivan Los Angeles Free Press Jan 9, 2020
Despite some funny and some touching moments, everything rings hollow. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Apr 2, 2015
C+
Uneven cynical drama about the NYC hard-drug scene. Go to Full Review
Fernando F. Croce CinePassion Nov 15, 2009
The main event is George Segal's whirligig of hipsterisms in the face of accelerating disaster Go to Full Review
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Born to Win

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Ivan Passer

Director

George Segal

J

Karen Black

Parm

Jay Fletcher

Billy Dynamite

David Scott Milton

Screenwriter

Ivan Passer

Screenwriter

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Born to Win

Born to Win (1971) Born to Win (1971) Born to Win (1971) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis J. used to be a hairdresser, but now he's found a new profession: heroin junkie. On the mean streets of New York City, he scrounges for his next fix -- mooching from his best friend, Billy Dynamite, and doing odd jobs for a drug dealer known as The Geek. But J. soon finds it more lucrative to work as an informer to the police. Meanwhile, he begins a tenuous romance with Parm, a woman he met while trying to steal her car.
Director
Ivan Passer
Producer
Philip Langner
Screenwriter
David Scott Milton, Ivan Passer
Distributor
United Artists
Production Co
Edward Spector Productions Inc.
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 1, 1971, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 2, 2016
Runtime
1h 30m
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