MOVIE:
The King of Staten Island
WHERE TO WATCH:
OUR RATING:
4/5 Stars
WHAT IT'S ABOUT:
An unemployed drug addict, whose firefighter father died at work, is forced to deal with grief and take the first step towards redemption.
WHAT WE THOUGHT:
When I think of Pete Davidson, I immediately think of Saturday Night Live and his whirlwind romance with Ariana Grande, but after watching The King of Staten Island, I have a newfound respect for the man and feel grateful for having seen a different side to his usual goofy, over the top, loud-mouth persona.
The film, which was directed, co-written and produced by Judd Apatow, follows Davidson's character as he deals with the death of his firefighter father and half-heartedly pursues a career as a tattoo artist. The dramedy is a semi-autobiographical portrayal of Davidson's life, whose firefighter father died in the 9/11 attacks.
With Apatow at the helm, The King of Staten Island will very likely receive criticism for not being as funny as some of his other movies (Knocked Up, Superbad, The 40 Year Old Virgin), but I don't think this movie was aiming for the same thing as those were. Yes, it primarily follows Apatow's go-to character recipe – he presents a lovable but childish young adult and then places obstacles in their way in a manner that allows them to move to the next phase of life as a happier, more confident person – but with this film, he follows a lot of his own advice. In a Masterclass for aspiring comedy filmmakers, Apatow advises approaching writing a comedy as you would a drama – the story should be strong enough to stand alone without the jokes. The focus initially is on developing the characters and then adding humour to them.
While it is a slow burn, I found myself unbothered by the 138-minute run. Unlike many of the lengthy blockbusters nowadays - everything serves a purpose to the plot in this film. Life is not a 90-minute show, it's complicated and vulnerable, and this movie perfectly captures that. Its intentionally laidback and urgency-free demeanour mirrors its protagonist's worldview – a scene that I think encapsulates this well is when Davidson's character, Scott, confesses that life moves too fast for him and smoking weed is the only way he can slow it down. But at the end of the day, we all come to learn that time waits for no man and will move on whether you've got your life together or not.
In addition to Davidson's first leading role performance, which won him the trophy for Best Actor at the CinEuphoria Awards, Apatow surrounds the comedian with a terrific cast that includes Marisa Tomei, Steve Buscemi and Bill Burr. And while the film's authenticity comes partly from Davidson's real-life experiences, many other well-thought-out contributions make that much more authentic; an example would be Buscemi's former work as a firefighter. According to Business Insider, the actor previously worked as an FDNY firefighter in downtown Manhattan in the 1980s and returned to the job several weeks after 9/11.
Finally, I want to commend Davidson's openness to the realities of dealing with mental illness or even just dealing with that weird part of life in your early twenties where you're still not really sure what you're doing or where you're going. It deals with living through loss, growing up and realising that it's okay not to have everything figured out right away, and the importance of not giving up. Speaking about how the film allowed him to work through past struggles, Davidson told Insider: "I made a tribute to my mom and dad, and I got to face these things I'd been avoiding for a really long time head-on." He added that before he found help with the right doctors and sought treatment, "it got pretty dark and scary," and much like the opening scene of the film, he found himself driving on the road with his eyes closed without his seatbelt on.
Mental health awareness is vital, now more than ever, and I think the journey Davidson's character goes on throughout the film is a realistic depiction of the trials and tribulations many people go through; regardless of what their personal story may be the emotions are very relatable.
The King of Staten Island is funny, authentic, painful and problematic, but you will most certainly relate to at least one part of this movie, and that in itself makes it worthy of a watch.