PLOT: A young man (Pete Davidson), stuck in a serious case of arrested development ever since the death of his fireman father, has a meltdown when his mother (Marisa Tomei) starts dating another fireman (Bill Burr).
REVIEW: For whatever reason, a lot of people seem to hate Pete Davidson. Whenever I tweet about him or share a story where he's mentioned, people immediately chime in with "I hate him" or something along those lines. A few years ago, I reviewed a fun little comedy he was in at Sundance called BIG TIME ADOLESCENCE, and the comments were scathing. Yet, it can't be denied that despite all of the haters, there are some people out there that like him, and one look at his dating history demonstrates that yeah, there's something about the guy. Truth be told, I was never sold on him until BIG TIME ADOLESCENCE, where I found him charming in an off-kilter kind of way. And now, I think even his most vehement haters may well be won over by THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND…if they give it a chance.
Easily the most serious film Judd Apatow's ever directed, THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND is tailor-made for its star, with Pete Davidson playing a character with whom he shares a lot of the same baggage. Davidson's fireman father died tragically in service during the September 11th attacks, while his character here also lost his father in service (albeit not in 9/11). Davidson's known for liking his weed – so does his character here. Davidson's talked about having Crohn's and a borderline personality disorder – so does his character here. And then, of course, there are the tattoos.
Still, this is not autobiographical. His character, Scott, in a lot of ways is more of an everyman than Davidson himself. He's not a stand-up, he's not as quick-witted or clever and there's no fame and fortune in his future thanks to a gig on SNL. Instead, THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND is all about Scott's battle to just become somewhat self-sufficient, not an easy task for a guy who's easily his own worst enemy. Davidson does make you care about his character, and while he does some pretty bad things, including tattooing a kid and flirting with some pretty major larceny, you root for him to pull it all together. Davidson's often been compared to Adam Sandler but this is much closer to being his PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE than his BILLY MADISON.
While built around its star, THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND is almost just as much of a showcase for Bill Burr, who could easily become an in-demand character actor on the strength of his performance here as the object of Scott's mom's affections. Loud-mouthed, sometimes cruel but also undeniably charismatic, his character is just as interesting as Davidson's, as just when you think you have him pegged, Burr and Apatow subvert your expectations. Initially, he's served up as a kind of antagonist, with him having an ex (Pamela Adlon) who despises him and a couple of neglected kids, but then, in the second half of the film, the movie's focus is radically re-shifted to focus on his growing bond with Scott. Here, Burr comes into his own and while it's too early to imagine what this year's awards season is going to be like, he deserves some serious recognition for his performance.
Davidson (who also co-wrote with Apatow and Dave Sirus) and Burr are the heart of the film, but there are loads of other solid performances here, including Marisa Tomei as Scott's long-suffering mom, while Maude Apatow has a nice part as his younger (but much wiser) sister. Also look out for Steve Buscemi in a gem of a part as Burr's quick-witted fire chief, while Bel Powley is a terrific, down to earth, sharp-witted romantic foil for Davidson. Their chemistry is on point. Some of the bit parts are great too, with Machine Gun Kelly playing it straight as a tattoo parlor owner in one memorable scene, while Action Bronson pops up in the movie's climax and damn near walks away with the whole film.
In some ways, coming out on VOD rather than theaters may work to THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND's advantage, as watching it at home it's easier to overlook some of the things that might have been more of an issue theatrically. For one thing, it's a little too long. 136 minutes is heavy-duty running time for a comedy-drama, and the movie's second half is more compelling than it's first. Again though, that's less of an issue at home as it kinda feels like we're watching one of Apatow's extended cuts and even if it is a little long it's never boring. Not for a second.
Hopefully, even Davidson's haters will give THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND a chance as Apatow is pretty much a master when it comes to crafting star vehicles that put underrated talents over in a big way. It's a terrific movie and seems primed to earn Davidson some legitimate respect. And you know what? Based on the quality of his work here he deserves it.