The Panic in Needle Park

A film review by Christopher Null - Copyright © 2005 Filmcritic.com

Al Pacino isn't particularly searing in this urban heroin drama, a precursor to much better films like Trainspotting, which really pushed the genre. But credit must be given, I suppose, to pioneers like Needle Park, which has Pacino and Susan Dey-lookalike Kitty Winn dazed and frequently comatose through nearly two hours of drugging, culminating in an inevitable bust. More a character study than any kind of narrative story, it's moderately worthwhile but far from a classic.

Rating

3.0 out of 5 Stars

  • Director: Jerry Schatzberg
  • Producer: Dominick Dunne
  • Screenwriter: Joan Didion, John Gregory Dunne
  • Stars: Al Pacino, Kitty Winn, Alan Vint, Richard Bright, Kiel Martin
  • MPAA Rating: R

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