Panic in Needle Park

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Panic in Needle Park

PG

Released Jul 13, 1971

1h 50m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

80%

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15 Reviews

75%

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5,000+ Ratings

Bobby (Al Pacino) is a heroin addict who lives in Needle Park, the nickname for an area on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where junkies congregate. He meets Helen (Kitty Winn), a lonely homeless girl, and they fall in love. However, Bobby also introduces Helen to heroin, and she eventually becomes addicted, too. As Bobby and Helen become more and more dependent on each other and on heroin, their need for money to feed their habit grows, resulting in crime, desperation and betrayal.

Richard Brody

The New Yorker

Schatzberg doesn't romanticize addicts' troubles; with a tender but unsparing eye, he spins visual variations on shambling degradation and transient relief.

Mar 5, 2018

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

Slant Magazine

The Panic in the Needle Park rolls up the drug culture's sleeve and picks at the scabs underneath.

Rated: 3.5/4

May 9, 2007

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Time Out

A gruelling but highly responsible film about the influence of heroin on a New York street romance.

Jun 24, 2006

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Jas Keimig

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

Though Winn and Pacino give buoyant performances, I think the film often nearly falls into afterschool special territory.

Dec 9, 2021

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

Despite its moderate concessions to a tidier commercial narrative line than the book afforded, The Panic in Needle Park remains pretty uncompromising.

Jul 30, 2021

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Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

While it sometimes seems to be spinning its wheels in 70's-era miserablism, it's hard to take your eyes of the central performances, and the truly alarming descent into the ugliness of addiction at its core.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 4, 2019

Full Review

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Alain E

A remarkable bleak movie about the different ways drug addiction destroys the users’ lives. Notable for containing the first protagonist part of Al Pacino. He didn’t win any awards contrary to the female lead who won in Cannes and that happened to be her highest career achievement. The grainy color photography is expertly restored. Joan Didion and her husband wrote the script. Apparently the American version went through some cuts that resulted in obtaining a PG rating! I can imagine parents of elementary school children explaining the pleasure people derive shooting heroin and how girls can turn tricks to increase their cash flow. Other films with much less controversial subjects are labeled R or NC-17.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/05/25

Full Review

Fabrícia F

Um duro retrato da realidade que atinge milhares de pessoas viciadas em drogas. Esse drama que ainda persiste na atual conjuntura social acompanha a vida de um jovem casal (Al Pacino e Kitty Winin) perdido na própria companhia, dependentes um do outro e da heroína. Triste, comovente, assustador.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/22/24

Full Review

Scott M

Story about two herion addicts who love each other. Filmed without much background to anyone's lives. Kitty Winn's acting is wooden. Pacino does an okay job. Nothing special about this movie.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

05/17/24

Full Review

Deke P

As BORING & exciting as being a down and out drug addict. Saw for first time on the telly, 3.2024 Note to sef, next time pay even more attention particularly to last 1/2.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/24/24

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CodyZamboni

Movie is bleak, with a true to life feel. Filmed in almost docu-drama "you are there" gritty realism. An honest look at addicts and their abusive / dependant relationships. Powered by the performances by Al Pacino and Kitty Winn.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/14/23

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Shioka O

Great performance by both leads. Nothing happens really but feel so real. Time capsule of late 60s - early 70s

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/19/22

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Jerry Schatzberg

Director

Al Pacino

Bobby

Kitty Winn

Helen, Bobby's Girlfriend

Alan Vint

Narcotics Detective Hotch

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Hank the Burgler

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Synopsis

Bobby (Al Pacino) is a heroin addict who lives in Needle Park, the nickname for an area on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where junkies congregate. He meets Helen (Kitty Winn), a lonely homeless girl, and they fall in love. However, Bobby also introduces Helen to heroin, and she eventually becomes addicted, too. As Bobby and Helen become more and more dependent on each other and on heroin, their need for money to feed their habit grows, resulting in crime, desperation and betrayal.

Director: Jerry Schatzberg
Producer: Dominick Dunne
Screenwriter: James Mills, Joan Didion, John Gregory Dunne
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: 20th Century Fox
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 13, 1971, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 5, 2016
Runtime: 1h 50m