The King of Staten Island
Directed by Judd Apatow
Written by Judd Apatow, Pete Davidson, Dave Sirus
The review:
It was hard for me to separate Pete Davidson the person, from Scott Carlin, the character* and this made for depressed feelings while watching this film, despite its funny moments. It was also a film where the character development seemed to have more to do with Scott finding out about his dead father rather than developing or changing on his own. But I did get to see Bel Powley** and Marisa Tomei,*** so that was a nice treat.****
The verdict: Good?
It’s right on the edge. It’s not quite bad enough to be a Skip, but not quite good enough to be Good
Cost: $1.42 via Redbox (take that, VOD price of $19.99 back in June!)
Where watched: at home
Consider watching instead:
Further sentences:
*It doesn’t help that like the main character, Pete Davidson’s firefighter father was killed when he was seven years old and I know that Davidson has mental health problems. It also might have to do with the humor stemming from Scott Carlin’s sub-par tattoos he gives to his friends and family. Those things don’t rub off, and they made me sad. I think I was supposed to find them funny.
**Would you like to watch Bel Powley in other films that are more fun than this? Cool. Check her out as Princess Margaret in A Royal Night Out, a minimally supervised teenager in The Diary of a Teenage Girl, and a floundering post-college existence in Carrie Pilby
***Remember when I wished she was the focus of this film? I feel the same way about the King of Staten Island.
***Also, hooray for Moises Arias! He was great in the Kings of Summer. And also in Five Feet Apart. Plus, his presence in this film led to a funny height gag.
Questions:
- Would you eat at a tattoo restaurant?
- What was your favorite moment in this film?
- Which was the worst Scott Carlin tattoo? My vote is for the Moises Arias one that incorporated his navel.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
The film was scheduled to open in about one-hundred theaters, mostly drive-ins. Due to the 2020 pandemic, two days before the release date the theaters were abruptly informed they would not able to show the film. Instead, the release was limited to video-on-demand.
Other reviews of The King of Staten Island:
- Karen Han, Polygon
- Molly Freeman, ScreenRant
Ii really enjoyed this at the time but it’s turned out to be really forgettable.
It’s funny how movies hit sometimes. Better to be enjoyable and then forgettable than excruciating.