Born to Win

Summary

“Why did you let me catch that fall?”

I am a sucker for character driven slice-of-life films. It’s a genre that was more prevalent from studio pictures around the Sixties through the late Seventies, during the Bob Rafelson/ “New Hollywood” movement, that eventually slowed to a halt in the Eighties. In the same tradition as The Killing of a Chinese Bookie or The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Born to Win is the story of a loser in a desperate situation. The picture is a little more ambiguous and at times slightly more comic than those films, but it shares a similar cynicism. George Segal plays a born loser in the film and it is pretty obvious from the first moments in the movie that there is not anything good that will happen to him anytime soon. The Born to Win title of the film is taken from the tattoo on the arm of the lead character. The tattoo is ironic given his inability to successfully perform any task no matter how small or pathetic. The film is not interested in moralizing as much as it is interested in showcasing a fragment of the counterculture at the end of the love generation. Ivan Passer had a knack for this type of thing as evidenced by his classic noir film Cutters Way which he made a few years later. I watched Born to Win last night and enjoyed it.

In New York City, heroin addict and thief J (George Segal) attempts to steal a safe from a building with his friend Billy Dynamite (Jay Fletcher,) but the robbery is foiled at the last minute. They avoid being picked up by the cops narrowly. After leaving Billy nodding off in the subway, J begins looking for a car to boost. While inside a car a woman named Parm (Karen Black) asks him for a ride to her apartment. He agrees to take her home. He fiddles with the large set of keys he has, when she offers to supply the key to her car. They head to her place and begin to hit it off. He tells her that he was married with kids but his wife had cheated on him. While Parm changes into a nightgown, J walks the place looking for things to steal. She coaxes him into bed and looks at his arm which has a tattoo that says “Born to Win” next to track marks from shooting up. They sleep together. The next morning, J meets up with Vivian “the Geek” (Hector Elizondo) who offers him a job of delivering a package for him. J accepts the job despite his wife hooking for Vivian. He delivers a package of heroin to Stanley and his girl Marlene. He gets paid in heroin by the Geek and shoots up with his wife Veronica (Paula Prentiss.) He had been in prison for eighteen months when his lady had him take a fall. Their kids are in California with her parents and she is a full time junkie prostitute. J decides to go with Billy and rob Stanley of the package of heroin he had delivered. The robbery is successful, but when they attempt to leave the building two officers (Robert De Niro and Ed Madsen) manage to catch J and retrieve the heroin. They force J to turn on the suppliers or face hard time.

Born to Win is a gritty look at the desperate and ineffective actions of a junkie. While the film never matches the realism of what we have seen in the decades since it was released in shows like The Wire, it is still an engaging look at a more dangerous time in New York City when crime was fairly rampant and the people who had destroyed their lives with smack were still talking about peace and love. Despite being a loser, the character of J is made likable by George Segal’s empathetic performance. George Segal looks completely different from the straight laced Quiller he played in The Quiller Memorandum. Sporting shaggy hair and long side burns, Segal looks the part. There are moments where some of his heroin addiction side effects failed to fully convince me, but he was always convincing in the panicked moments after another deal or petty theft fell through. It’s a good part for Segal and definitely memorable. J is surrounded by great character actors. Karen Black is notable as the wacky girl who finds herself falling for him. Hector Elizondo is fun in the role of “the Geek.” The Seventies was an era where regularly pimps were played by white actors – Harvey Keitel in Taxi Driver comes to mind- which Tarantino discussed in his book Cinema Speculation as a timid choice. I couldn’t help but think of that when viewing Hector Elizondo’s performance. He is a lot of fun in the role if you can take it seriously. Robert De Niro and Ed Marsden are well cast in the role of the cops that pressure J into turning on his suppliers. De Niro had already acted in Brian De Palma’s early films and was on the precipice of greatness, performing in Mean Streets just two years later. I really enjoyed the performance by Jay Fletcher as Billy Dynamite. He nails the role of the trusting junkie who joins J on his foibles. Paula Prentiss is also notable as J’s junkie wife Veronica. It’s a good cast overall and Ivan Passer is more than up to task for bringing the best out of them. 

Passer, who also helped write the screenplay, brings moments of levity into the film that keep it from feeling totally dark or sinister. The film is certainly melancholy – as one would expect given the subject matter – but it has some sly humor at times. A good example would be the robbery that is foiled at the beginning of the film which is laughable in how it is both executed and how it falls apart. The film doesn’t allow itself to become overly pitiable for its characters. J knows he has bungled up his life, but he never seems to lose a modicum of confidence that he can find a way out of the situations he has created and begin again. It is a testament to Ivan Passer that the film does not dwell on despair exclusively and finds little moments of light during J’s spiraling actions.

One of the best aspects of Born to Win is the view of New York City in the early Seventies. Cinematographers Richard C. Kratina and Jack Priestly bring the best out of the city in the film. Born to Win is a travelogue of New York City before it got cleaned up. I love the way the film looks. This street level view of New York City at that time makes the film an ideal Fun City Edition title. It fits into the label’s ethos perfectly, which was confirmed by Jonathan Hertzberg in our recent interview. 

Overall – Born to Win is not a perfect film. I don’t find aspects of the picture to be completely convincing, but I certainly was entertained for the duration of the picture and would happily revisit the film in the future. Fans of the Bob Rafelson-era early Seventies character driven films will find a lot to enjoy about Born to Win.

Video

Fun City Editions have brought Born to Win to Blu-ray with a winning 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded image in 1.85:1 from a new 2K scan created specifically for this release from a 35mm interpositive. The film looks great. Grain is well resolved and the colorful streets of NYC in the Seventies really pop out. To my eyes, this is one of the better looking films in Fun City Editions’ lineup thus far. Fans will love how the movie looks in high definition.

Audio

The LPCM 2.0 track for Born to Win sounds pretty good. The score by William Fischer is funky and leans into jazz elements. It fits the era perfectly and helps make bustling New York City sound more vibrant. I really enjoyed the score to the film. I didn’t detect too many issues with the track although there is a little audio dropout during one portion of the film (a scene where J shoots up.) I imagine that was in issue with the source and not an issue with the audio transfer itself, but wanted to note it. 

Supplements:

• Commentary features writer Jason Bailey and filmmaker Michael Hult – this is a solid commentary track by Jason Bailey (author of Fun City Cinema: New York City and the Movies that Made It) and filmmaker Michael Hull of the Fun City Cinema Podcast. These two are a natural fit to discuss the film.
• Image Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 3/5

Overall – 4/5

Born to Win is a well made character driven drama from the golden age of the “New Hollywood” era. George Segal delivers a notable performance as the desperate heroin addict J whose small hustles are destined to fail inside of the underbelly of New York where he lives. Segal was a great actor and this stacks as one of his better performances, even when certain moments fail to convince. Ivan Passer brings the cityscape of New York to life vividly with the help of an excellent supporting cast. Given the cynical subject matter, the film is a lighter than you might expect. Fun City Editions have performed an attractive 2K scan and restoration of the film. The audio commentary is well researched. This film is a perfect compliment to the other films in Fun City Editions’ lineup. I feel like if I was trying to distill down exactly what types of films are Fun City’s forte, this film would be one of the chief examples I would use. Recommended.