[Review] The King of Staten Island (2020) {6.5/10}

Director Judd Apatow (Trainwreck) has made his fame by directing some very amusing films and has helped launch the careers of several Hollywood actors such as Bill Hade and Amy Schumer. He is now featuring another new-comer, Pete Davidson which audiences will recognize from "Saturday Night Live". He is playing the role of Scott Carlin, a 24 year old high school dropout who lives in his widowed mother's basement and smokes too much weed. He hopes for a carrer as a tattoo artist. Apatow and Davidson co-wrote the script and drew some plot elements from Davidson's own life story. Both fictional Scott and real life Pete has Fireman Fathers who died in line of duty when their sons were Seven years old. Pete's father died in the Twin Towers on 9/11 while Scott's father died heroically under less dramatic circumstances. Both Pete and Scott have suffered emotional trauma growing up without a father and both are troubled with Crohn's Disease.

The Film is a semi-autobiographical comedy-drama about Pete Davidson growing up in the Staten Island icluding losing his father and entering the world of Stand-up Comedy. Scott's ambitious young sister (Maude Apatow, HBO's Euphoria) heads off to college which is why Scott is now living with his exhausted ER Nurse Mother and spends his days smoking weed, hanging out with guys and secretly hooking up with his childhood friend Kelsey. But when her mother starts dating a loudmouth firefighter named Ray, it sets off a chain of events that forces Scott to grapple with his grief and take his first tentative steps towards moving forward in life. Scott isn’t just a jerk (though for much of the movie he’s that, too). He’s a guy with some severe mental issues with a desperate need of a father figure or, at least, a good male role model. Against all odds, he eventually finds a semblance of that in Ray. Ray sees some promise and talent in this wayward twentysomething, and he eventually makes a pretty hefty sacrifice for the kid. Meanwhile, Scott grows to respect and even like Ray. Moreover, Ray becomes a conduit to a whole firehouse full of friends and role models, some of whom knew Scott’s father and they help Scott in moving forward in his life.

"The King of Staten Island" is not a perfect movie. It lasts an overly long Two and One half hours and has a misleading opening scene that seems to prepare us for a tragedy whereas the tone of the film is much more comic than we are led to expect. It is the soulful performance of Pete Davidson that holds the movie together. Marisa Tomei did a wonderful job as Scott's Mother. Bill Burr did an amazing job as Ray Bishop who plays a vital role in the movie which is why the plot does hold together and has a definitve conclusion to the story.

It takes a while but the film eventually finds its purpose. We see Scott finally coming out of his gief and moving forward in life. However, it would have been better if Apatow had taken the story in a darker direction instead of comedy as it would have provided more personality and would have left an impact on the viewers.

There is no real surprise in Scott's journey as slackers in Apatow films always find direction without losing their playful sense of humour and it arguably goes a bit too easy on him as usual but It's still quite touching and warm, with its heart in the right place as Davidson and the rest of the cast keep things alive.

"The King of Staten Island" is now available on Demand.