Popular reviews

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  Review by Justin LaLiberty ★★★★ 3

  nobody but George Segal could pull off running through the streets of dirty old NYC in a mumu and look like iconic doing it - a lot of DNA here was injected straight into Uncut Gems, from the constant mania (and lack of judgment) of its lead character to its affinity for the city; great stuff

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  Review by Sonny_Jim ★★★½

  If George Segal was trying to steal my car, I'd probably get in and help him, too. I don't know, I just like the guy.

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  Review by Lebowskidoo 🇨🇦 🎬 🍿 ★★★★

  Probably more effective in its time, but we've all seen much more intense junkie stories since.

  Still, I love seeing NYC in the early 70's and young Robert De Niro (who nearly got fired for stealing scenes completely from the leads).

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  Review by panos75 ★★★½

  The everyday trials and tribulations of a recently released from prison New York junkie who spends most of his time hanging out with his best friend at Times Square and looking for his next fix.

  Just reading the plot summary you can easily envision "Born to Win" as a 70s version of "Requiem for a Dream". And it's true that they have a lot in common. The biggest difference though it that where Aronofsky's film was grim and uncompromising, Passer's one is a lot more light-hearted and for the first two acts it can pass as a legitimate comedy. That doesn't mean that the Czech writer/director sugarcoats the subject of addiction, he just tries to show that addicts are more…

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  Review by arLopez ★★★½

  It's kinda, like, 'Requiem for a Dream' — but set in the seventies and, like, actually good.

  An accurate depiction of drug addiction/culture; Aronofsky should've taken notes.

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  Review by Allison M. 🌱 ★½

  "It's a gift."

  I seriously considered not continuing with this film when I was halfway through it, but I somehow finished it. The ending is weird. Women are pretty much blown off and the lead character is given a free ride with no consequences. It would have been annoying, but it was just weird, like, okay, that's really what happened?

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  Review by Scout 1

  Robert De Niro's star power is obvious. He's only in a small part of this, but even still, he has a distinct presence on screen. I always love seeing Karen Black as well.

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  Review by Michael501 📺 ★★

  1971 In Review - December
  #1

  J. (George Segal) 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 (Jay Fletcher), 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 (Karen Black), a woman he met while trying to steal her car.

  Drama about the hardships of a junkie whose addiction ruins his chance at having a normal life and has him involved in crime life just to…

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  Review by pirateneckbeard ★★★

  So this came out the same year as "panic in needle park" and although it may not have the esteem or script it does have a lot going for it. I think George Segal is great here as a strung out heroine user trying to get his as best he can but ultimately always trying to feed his habit. I can see things that make some of "Cutter's Way" in this earlier production by Ivan Plasser but here he captures it in a gritty cold New York. It's a noticeable cast with a young De Niro that are effective hear. This film charmed me but I Wish I saw a better version than Tubi but whatcha gonna do.

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  Review by laird ★★★½

  Cheerful little movie about a junkie who, get this, despite the title actually has very bad luck! I'd call him a loser, but I watched this after the Safdie Brothers name checked it as one of their favorite movies about "winners who don't win" (the term they prefer to "loser." Shameless plug: see the whole interview my colleagues and I conducted with them here www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC1hxyq_BEc). The influence on UNCUT GEMS is apparent!

  Great lead performances from George Segal and Karen Black, plus a blink and you'll miss him Robert De Niro who appears on the cover of some home video releases of this.

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  Review by Carlos Valladares 2

  For Screen Slate I wrote about THE PANIC AND NEEDLE PARK + BORN TO WIN, the ultimate heroin-addicts-in-love-circa-1971 double feature.

  “Two pairs of lost lovers. Heroin bags, needles scattered on the streets. Grimy New York in the early 1970s, before the neoliberal cleanup.

  Two distinct New Hollywood masterpieces are in the spotlight again: Jerry Schatzberg's The Panic in Needle Park (which screens at Fotografiska tonight for its 50th anniversary, with Schatzberg, DP Adam Holender, and actress Marcia Jean Kurtz present for a Q&A) and the dearly departed Ivan Passer's Born to Win (one of the highlights of the Criterion Channel's "New York Stories" program).

  “I write words that translate into pictures,” Schatzberg told me in a profile I wrote on…

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  Review by MichaelEternity ★★★ 1

  More bleak malaise from the '70s - hapless NYC schnook George Segal slings heroin, has a love affair with Karen Black, gets recruited by some cops to be a narc, confronts the cold hard truth of his lifestyle up close right before an ambiguous ending. It's not trying to be comical though some dry laughs occur. It's not trying to be melodramatic either, just a quixotic, elegiacal street odyssey.

  Eternally affable George Segal kinda seems miscast for this hard-edged material but maybe they needed someone easy for the viewer to roll with for exactly that reason. I was grateful to have a pal like him to counter the bitterness. He's giving off some of the same charismatic beta masculinity as…