Panic in Needle Park

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Panic in Needle Park

PG

Released Jul 13, 1971

1h 50m

Drama

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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

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

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Mark Holcomb

Time Out

Rated: 2/5

Nov 17, 2011

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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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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

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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

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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

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Diane B

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

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/13/22

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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
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