The King of Staten Island (2020) Review!!

Synopsis – Scott has been a case of arrested development since his firefighter dad died. He spends his days smoking weed and dreaming of being a tattoo artist until events force him to grapple with his grief and take his first steps forward in life.

My Take – Four days ago, after building some hype around, director Judd Apatow‘s latest film finally hit VOD, which for a fan like me was a great moment as I had been anticipating this one for quite some time now. Though Apatow’s comedies have been accused of being loose and overstuffed at the same time, on the contrary I have always that he is probably the only comedic director who can really capture the humanity in a comedy as he is able to make you laugh when necessary and hit you in the emotional strings when you least expect it.

A signature much noticeable right from his breakout film, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, to his very underrated dramedy Funny People and to his last feature directorial, Trainwreck, a film I was not a fan of. And much like his other big-screen efforts, this film too uses the particular talents of a gifted comedian and crafts around them a tale of love and loss.

However, while this one has all the typical ingredients of a Judd Apatow film, it also happens to mark a pretty subtle departure from his usual offerings, as it is co-written and stars Pete Davidson, who despite being an SNL comedian has gained notoriety for having some very public break ups and break downs, in a semi-autobiographical role.

In real life, Pete Davidson‘s father was a firefighter who died in the line of duty, rescuing victims of the 9/11 attack, and ever since, he has struggled with a mental health condition, which have often earned the tags for being difficult, unpredictable or even crazy. But if you have seen this year’s March Hulu release, Big Time Adolescence, you must admit the young comedian is also immensely talented, and here too, makes sure that there is no way you won’t fall in love with his character.

Make no mistake, the film is an overlong coming-of-story about a slacker who can’t get his head on straight until he does, and contains the usual Apatow signature goofy hangout scenes, wrenching family drama, and even some tense sequences, but watching Davidson bares his soul for the role, makes this easily one of my favorite films of the year.

The story follows Scott Carlin (Pete Davidson) a wayward 24 year-old young man struggling to figure out the course of his life. With no prospect of ever being able to support himself, he continues to live with his exhausted mother Margie (Marisa Tomei), be a trouble for his college-bound younger sister, Claire (Maude Apatow), spends all of his time in a friend’s basement smoking and occasionally dealing weed, refuses to commit to anything more than just sex with his childhood friend Kelsey (Bel Powley), and has unrealistic dreams of opening a tattoo restaurant.

He’s not sure what’s holding him back in life but, without facing his grief, he’s happy to blame the experience of losing his father, a heroic firefighter and Scott’s idol, when he was just seven. However things begin to get complicated when Margie enters the dating pool after 17 years, and enters into a serious relationship with Ray Bishop (Bill Burr), a loudmouth, divorced fireman who also happens to be a former colleague of his father. With so much change taking place in his life, Scott is left without no option but deal with his troubles and begin taking his steps towards redemption.

Although the character shares similarities with Davidson, his journey is different. Here, director Apatow’s meandering style fits Scott’s flaky personality, but it makes the first half of the film feel particularly formless. Individual scenes are funny and well-acted, but there’s no real arc to latch onto besides Scott’s adventures in amateur tattooing, a profession he craves but lacks the discipline for.

It is only in the latter half of the film that director Apatow finally starts to home in on the point of his tale, and that’s when it all becomes compelling and moving. Especially when after a certain set of events Scott is suddenly compelled to hang out with Ray and his work crew, which includes a group of firemen made up of Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Tatro, and Domenick Lombardozzi, among others.

One of the film’s most memorable sequences though might be Scott’s unflinching look as his new firefighter friends run into a burning building. It’s in quiet moments of introspection like this that the film speaks to the trauma of grief and how it affects those who experience it up close.

The film makes a major effort to wrestle with the trauma underlying Scott’s immaturity. Scott can be quite charming and gregarious, and then immensely frustrating; he’s delightful when hanging in the basement with his stoned pals (played by Moisés Arias, Ricky Velez, and Lou Wilson), but inadvertently neglectful of his mother and sister.

The loss of his father in the line of duty looms over everything, and director Apatow and Davidson are unafraid to depict what an emotional crutch that history has become for Scott, who uses it as an excuse for his irresponsibility.

Sure, like several of director’s other comedies, there are jokes sprinkled throughout the proceedings and there are a few big laughs here and there. But mainly this is a story about growing up, finding the good things, learning to accept those good things, and taking responsibility over one’s life. There’s genuine sentiment in its heart, which rests in just the right place, and it can also be legitimately funny.

Within a typical Apatow directed story arc there will usually also be a full redemption, a turn-around that ensures a happily ever after where a Seth Rogen-type can be forgiven all his past screw ups now that lessons have been learned. However here, Scott remains conspicuously on the hook even as the credits close. It’s tempting to interpret this as a type of self-awareness from Davidson and it’s refreshing to see such a ‘complicated’ character learning, changing, sympathized with, but ultimately accepting responsibility for their actions and carrying that with them.

But for all its good intentions, landed jokes and nicely rounded characters, the film suffers a pretty big setback in the form of a hefty 136 minutes run time, there are long stretches of the film which meander and plod aimlessly around. And for anyone not buying into the charm of the main character, patience is likely to be tested.

As it must be obvious by now Pete Davidson is a pivotal part of why the film works, in what might very likely be his best performance to date, he plays a likeable, decent guy with a good heart and some troubles in it, plays him so authentically one could guess some of it comes from a place of past pain. Here, Davidson imbues the character with an awkward meekness that allows the audience room to empathize with him despite the poor decisions he makes.

Much like Davidson, Marissa Tomei hones in on the complexity of the situation for her character, and plays Margie a very different sort of New York parent than the one we recently saw caring for Peter Parker. Bill Burr and Bel Powley also bring in a solid performances, while Maude Apatow, Pamela Adlon, Moisés Arias, Kevin Corrigan, Ricky Velez, and Lou Wilson are equally impressive. Steve Buscemi is as always excellent in his particularly fun cameo. On the whole, ‘The King of Staten Island’ is a seriously funny, heartfelt, and compelling comedy drama that offers a solid character exploration from Pete Davidson.