The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

TIFF Film #3

What's being positioned as an Oscar vehicle for John Turturro, like many a Sony Pictures classic film before it, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York feels just like that - a demonstration of Turturro’s ability to capture an audience that sadly fails to inthrall or elevate itself past this.

Turturro is an extremely talented actor, very naturalistic; this role doesn't feel boundary-pushing in any shape or form. It is a very secure, comfortable role that you could imagine him playing. He's a misguided New Yorker who's struggling to find his position in the world, to cope with the path that he has taken, or at least that's what the film wants you to think.

The film feels a little at odds with itself. It's trying to pull this sleight of hand, to let a mystery box unfold right in front of your very eyes. While this aspect of the movie is fun enough, it's also trying to balance that with familial drama and the burdens that Turturro’s character bears but only scratches the surface. It's not digging deep enough into the pocket to pull out anything that satisfying.

It's a real shame as these aspects of family drama are possibly the highlights of the film. There's a scene with Tatiana Maslany that is a particular standout. However, it feels misplaced in the movie. We're told that Turturro feels regret for the choices that he's made. Rarely are we shown this though and this revelation comes so late into the film that it feels like an add-on rather than something that was meaningfully explored.

Given the nature of his job, he's a man that has been motivated by money throughout his entire life. And as the film reaches its conclusion, there's a want and a desire to have him reckon with this and perhaps realise that that isn't or shouldn't be the main motivator. There are many threads that tie into this, the familial issues that he had, which all came back to money and working. The showcasing of how fractured and discontent the wealthy are in this movie. But by the time we reach the conclusion of the film, there's a feeling of justice for the choices that Turturro's character makes, which sadly all come back to money.

It would be interesting if the film was seeking to show a character unwilling to change, a character who has tunnel vision and is unable to see the damage that he caused and the ways to go about fixing that. But the film seems disinterested in this, and that's highlighted through the edit. Scenes where we could perhaps get more complexity out of this idea are cut short. It's a shame, it sets up some really interesting pieces, but I think by its conclusion, its framing just is not satisfying.

For the journey we go on, the film is quaint. It's nice to live in his world for the short period that we do. New York has never felt so much like New York from the way that the film is shot, to the beautiful score, which somehow sonically captures the magic of the city. The film nails its conversations around ageing and the writing of its older characters contending with age, but in opposition to that, the younger characters feel really stereotypical, and tech is just used as a means to an end. There's a jarring dissonance between the characters, they feel as if they’re operating in different movies, specifically the younger, wealthier man played by Will Price who feels like a complete caricature. By no means a horrendous watch, it's very pleasant, but it left me with nothing to chew on.