The King of Staten Island (2020)

Review

136min

Genre:       Comedy, Drama

Director:     Judd Apatow

Cast:         Pete Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr…and more

Writers:     Judd Apatow, Pete Davidson and Dave Sirus

-Synopsis-

Still haunted by the childhood passing of his firefighter hero dad, a twentysomething Staten Islander with no direction and little motivation struggles with the transition into adulthood, living with his single mother while hanging with his scoundrel friends and a slightly more ambitious on/off girlfriend. But when his mom starts a new relationship with a brash single father who hits close to home, the young New Yorker is pushed out of his arrested development and into the world, forced to face his foibles and finally move forward with his life.

Having played a major part in launching the careers of Hollywood big-hitters like Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill, writer/director/producer Judd Apatow has proven his devotion to the comedic arts and those who practice it, helping to put L.A. stand-ups like Amy Schumer and Kumail Nanjiani on the global map and their life stories on the silver screen with films like ‘Trainwreck’ and ‘The Big Sick’. Now the comedy impresario returns to his hometown and joins forces with current young ‘Saturday Night Live’ alumnus and tabloid favourite Pete Davidson to give his life and persona the semi-autobiographical Apatow treatment.

Davidson himself stars as ‘Scott Carlin’, a twenty-four-year-old chain pot-smoker and DIY tattoo enthusiast still defined by the childhood passing of his firefighter dad whilst on duty, living at home with his widowed nurse mother ‘Margie’ (Marisa Tomei) and collegebound sister ‘Claire’ (Maude Apatow), dealing with a stagnant existence with cynicism and black humour on the humble streets of the city’s most neglected borough. But his life of chilling with his equally unambitious friends and pseudo girlfriend ‘Kelsey’ (Bel Powley) takes a turn when his exploits lead to his mom falling for gruff firefighter ‘Ray’ (Bill Burr), forcing him to face the memory of his departed dad and take responsibility for his own life, and truly start to tackle adulthood . . . in his own inimitable way.

There are few filmmakers working today with a better track record of helping stand-up, sketch and improv comics shine on the big screen than Judd Apatow, having guided stars like Steve Carell plus the aforementioned Rogen and Hill to the heights of comedy superstardom—not to mention establishing his credentials for mining real life comedy journeys from the likes of Amy Schumer and Kumail Nanjiani for recent semi-biographical silver screen hits like ‘Trainwreck’ and ‘The Big Sick’.

And in Pete Davidson—who’s arguably as famous for his celebrity romances and tabloid exploits as he is for his stand-up and SNL work—he’s found a fresh new comedy meal ticket, as together they use the young comic’s own troubled childhood and loss of his real firefighter father in the 9/11 New York tragedy to create a restrained yet uplifting tale of grief and struggle, loosely based on his life and underpinned by brash but melancholy Big Apple humour.

Yet Davidson isn’t the only stand-up to take centre stage here as Apatow gives one of the most fearless comedians working today the chance to further prove his subtle acting chops—after joining the ‘Star Wars’ universe he once hilariously derided with his turn in ‘The Mandalorian’—as ornery New Englander Bill Burr brings his earthy and blunt perceptive humour plus a healthy dose of heart to the role of Scott’s foil, and his catalyst for change. An eclectic cast is further coloured by a selection of idiosyncratic working-class New York faces which include former NYC firefighter and current screen veteran Steve Buscemi, and is rounded off by loveable movie star Marisa Tomei as the film’s loving and long-suffering mother, plus talented young Londoner Bel Powley as yet another completely convincing American, Scott’s pseudo girlfriend.

As Judd Apatow comedies go, ‘The King of Staten Island’ is spiritually closer to his slightly melancholy and introspective laugh fests like ‘Funny People’ and ‘The Big Sick’ than it is to more crude and irreverent efforts like ‘The 40 Year-Old Virgin’ and ‘Trainwreck’, although it has its outrageous moments too . . . albeit fewer and farther between. But like most of his projects it has an abundance of heart, and the heart of this reluctant coming-of-age tale is held in the themes of loss and supressed grief, and the slow overcoming of its stunting effects.

It’s not only the comedy doing the heavy lifting to overcome the poignancy and malaise of the narrative here, and indeed a protagonist weighed down by guilt and fear, as the film’s humble urban style and its music also play a major part. It features not only a subtle score from Michael Andrews but also a soundtrack blending a bit of 90s alternative rock with plenty of contemporary pop and hip-hop to help capture some of the working-class zeitgeist and vigour of Davidson’s generation, and energise an otherwise rather leisurely narrative. The result is a mood reminiscent of 2004’s ‘Garden State’, not to mention the stylistic and thematic echoes of Zach Braff’s film.

‘The King of Staten Island’ ultimately culminates in a pseudo happy ending which leaves you with more hope and promise than redemption or a full turnaround, underlining its credentials as more of a subtle and realistic comedy/drama than most comparable modern efforts, although not quite as poignant or riotous than others. But Judd Apatow’s latest offer is nevertheless a charming and surprisingly nuanced success which tries to reframe the image of its star while simultaneously staying true to his nature . . . delivering an often funny and occasionally touching ode to DIY tattooing and New York’s forgotten borough like no other.

The Bottom Line…

Judd Apatow teams up with a popular Gen Z comic and applies his formula to the Pete Davidson life story to give us one of his more subtle and poignant comedic efforts, yet still delivers plenty of laughs and a heavy dose of heart mixed with bags of New York charm, in this mischievous working-class family drama and comedic odyssey of loss and grief through arrested development.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Garden State (2004)

Estranged from his family and struggling with depression, a medicated young aspiring actor and L.A. full-time waiter returns home to New Jersey after the death of his mother, forcing him to confront a strained relationship with his shrink dad while reuniting him with childhood friends, and leading him to a new connection which promises to lift him out of a decade-long existential funk.

Directed by Zach Braff and starring Zach Braff, Natalie Portman and Peter Sarsgaard among others.

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