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.
Director: Judd Apatow
Cast: Pete Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Bel Powley, Maude Apatow,
Steve Buscemi, Pamela Adlon
Release Date: June 26, 2020
Genres: Comedy, Drama
Rated R for language and drug use throughout, sexual content and some
violence/bloody images
Runtime: 2h 16min
Review:
The King of Staten Island offers more than it looks like on its
surface. Sure it’s another Apatow
exploration of a man stuck in arrested development but there is a bit more here
than usual. It’s very funny in spots and
touching in others with a large part of the pathos coming from Davidson’s
proximity to the subject matter. Since
the primary portion of the plot hits close to home for him, his performance is
impressive and heartfelt as he avoids any moments of self parody. It’ll come as a surprise to people who have
never seen him outside of skits on SNL, it’s a pleasant surprise but it can’t
mask some of the films overall issues. Apatow, after all these years, is still
terribly unfocused as a director and it really shows here. There are multiple sequences that feel like
they need some strong edits and tightening overall. Tone also tends to shift sporadically over the
course of the film which lessens the impact of some moments. Luckily for Apatow his film is stocked with
excellent supporting players like Maisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Pamela Adlon and
Steve Buscemi. Together they make the
film feel much breezier than you’d expect for a film that’s over 2 hours
long. This film won’t be considered a
classic like Knocked Up or 40 Year Old Virgin but it’s definitely one of his
better films in recent memory.
B
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