This is the type of movie/story that I want in my present-day curmudgeon era - a simple story, with a stacked cast of legendary actors with a runtime of 88 minutes including the credits. I don’t know what it is but movies these days have unnecessarily long runtimes. I enjoyed
The Accountant 2 overall but why does a movie like that need to be two hours and twenty minutes??
Anyway -
The Only Living Pickpocket In New York is the story of an aging pickpocket with a checkered past that steals something way more important than a watch or a wallet from some very dangerous people. When he discovers the severity of the situation he has a day to make things right all while settling up with people from his past. Contrary to what the trailer may lead you to believe - this movie is quite sad in my opinion. There are plenty of funny and/or lighthearted moments but it’s quietly dark.
Not only is the cast made up of legendary New York City Actors (John Turturro, Steve Bushcemi, Giancarlo Esposito, etc), but almost every borough is represented in a non-forced kind of way. Our titular Pickpocket lives in The Bronx, has dealings in Manhattan and unresolved issues in Queens. Staten Island gets a shoutout but I don’t remember Brooklyn being mentioned at all. This is actually fine by me because now that New York City is overrun by transplants that romanticize Brooklyn like it’s the only place in New York, we need a modern film to remind people of how vast and diverse the city is. There’s obviously scenes of New York City’s skyline but we also get scenes and shots of unpopular subway stops and the suburban-looking parts of Queens.
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| Pickup On South Street / The Only Living Pickpocket In New York |
This film pays homage and brings to mind classic movies like
Pickpocket and
Pickup on South Street (there’s also a pretty obvious reference to
The Friends of Eddie Coyle but I don’t have the clip to make the comparison yet).
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| Pickpocket / The Only Living Pickpocket In New York |
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| Pickpocket / The Only Living Pickpocket In New York |
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Besides being a “love letter to New York City”,
The Only Living Pickpocket In New York is also an homage to classic modern cinema. Casting Turturro, Buschemi and Esposito brings to mind so many other directors they’ve collaborated with together over the decades. Some combination of those three actors have appeared together in the films of Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, The Coen Brothers, Jim Jarmusch and Abel Ferrara. And it should be noted that most of those directors are either from different boroughs of New York City (Lee, Scorsese and Ferrara) or represent New City heavily in their films (Jarmusch).
Like I said earlier - this is a solid film that checks all my personal boxes for what I want in a movie. It may even end up on my list of personal favorites by the end of the year.
