Born to Win (1971)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Ivan Passer

Cast: George Segal, Paul Prentiss, Karen Black, Robert De Niro

Time: 88 minutes

J is a junkie who occasionally runs errands for his dealer Vivian in order to cover his own habit. After meeting Parm, he seems intent on getting his life back on track and move away with her, but, with the cops on his tail, he has to agree to collaborate with them to arrest Vivian.

I originally saw this film because it was advertised as starring Robert De Niro, one of my favorite actors. What we have here is a case of an old movie being repackaged to cash in on the success an actor had later in his career. The Raging Bull actor is only in a couple of scenes in Born to Win, and he was not given anything memorable to sink his teeth into.

As for the movie itself, it just seems to be plodding along aimlessly for close to 90 minutes. By the end of it, I still wondered what was the point. George Segal has offered better performances in his career, and so did Karen Black. This one could easily be skipped without missing much. Born to Win is billed as a black comedy, but I failed to see the humor. 

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