Panic in Needle Park

PG

Released Jul 13, 1971

1h 50m

Drama

List

80%

15 Reviews

Tomatometer

75%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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.

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Richard Brody

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

Mark Holcomb

Time Out

Rated: 2/5

Nov 17, 2011

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

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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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

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

Diane B

One of the few movies where I enjoyed watching Al Pacino act.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/13/22

Full Review

Audience Member

A young Pacino in top form. A stunning performance from him and his costar Kitty Winn.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Disjointed but oooh...so arty! No backstory on Helen; how she'd get anywhere near the dirtbag named "Bobby" is unclear, but gee, Mr. and Mrs. Viewer, she did suffer a botched abortion after getting knocked up by her artist boyfriend so we have to presume she was "vulnerable," right? And, she shot up for the first time all on her own without OD'ing, so I guess she's a fast learner. Spoiler Alert: Bobby gets busted again near the conclusion but he's holding Major Weightthis time but still he's back on the street after 90 days, six months, a year, tops? Helen is waiting for him? Gimmie a break.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

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Jerry Schatzberg

Director

Al Pacino

Bobby

Kitty Winn

Helen, Bobby's Girlfriend

Alan Vint

Narcotics Detective Hotch

Richard Bright

Hank the Burgler

Kiel Martin

Chico, Junkie

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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
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