Riot’s Movie Reviews: The King of Staten Island
How does a family move on from the death of a father? The King of Staten Island follows Scott Carlin (Pete Davidson) a twenty-four year old “aspiring” tattoo artist as he is forced to finally confront the loss of his father, a fireman who died in a hotel fire when Scott was a young boy. Taking a slice out of Pete Davidson’s true life story, Judd Apatow directs this dark comedy’s honest look at arrested development and overcoming tragedy.
Having recently watched Davidson’s other film (Big Time Adolescence) and even his recent stand-up special (Alive From New York), I was little surprised to find that Davidson’s persona/jokes/lifestyle was merely copied and pasted into another of his performances. Trying to separate the real-life story from the fictional one had to have been a struggle and it is evident with the way the story progresses. To the credit of Apatow and Davidson, The King of Staten Island did a little more to elevate this average joe, but that could simply be due to the fact that this “stoner” character was finally given an opportunity for redemption. It’s worth noting that the film tackles multiple sensitive issues including; suicide, pervasive drug use, criminal activity, and moving on from the death of a family member, none of which are easy to give proper time and respect to on their own. The King of Staten Island, may have lost its way because of this, ending up with a character that didn’t feel all that original or interesting.
Opening up on an attempted suicide is a rough way to start any film. This unexpected moment is immediately followed up by a scene in which Scott’s friends are making jokes at the expense of his dead father, something that clearly seems to upset Scott even though he is trying to continue the perpetual lie that he is okay with it. I found this to be a strange addition, considering Davidson is well-known for publicly making jokes about his own father’s death in 9/11. What follows is a long string of scenes in which the audience is shown just how arrested in development Scott really is. His multiple temper tantrums at the news of his mother’s (Margie Carling played by Marisa Tomei) blossoming romance with another fireman (Ray Bishop played by Bill Burr) and his public admonishment of the firefighter’s lifestyle in front of a group of actual firefighters leaves the viewer with little to root for. While the audience can understand Scott’s feelings about having his father replaced with yet another firefighter, the over-the-top reaction to it does nothing to help gain sympathy from viewers. Scott’s foray into legitimate criminal activity, by being an accomplice to robbery at a local drug store, triggers a landslide of other bad decisions. He eventually succeeds in sabotaging his mother’s relationship with Ray and then tries to manipulate Kelsey (Bel Powly), the friend that he’s secretly sleeping with, into giving him a place to stay when he is finally kicked out of his mother’s house. Homeless and now alone, with his friends in prison and his “girlfriend” not talking to him, Scott searches for help.
Elements of a redemptive story begin to develop here and in turning to Ray as a last ditch effort, Scott is able to slowly rebuild a responsible life. He helps with chores around the firehouse to earn his keep, he actively pursues his dreams of being a tattoo artist (also at Ray’s skin’s expense), and he helps save the life of a stab victim to boot. The movie closes with two honest conversations between Scott/Margie and Scott/Kelsey where the audience is finally introduced to a young man who is actively confronting the life that is rapidly changing in front of him. He has learned to acknowledge his own shortcomings with some honesty and humility.
One redeeming strength of the film includes an eclectic mix of interesting and well-placed music, something that Apatow is well known for. The film’s quality is also bolstered from the supporting performances of Bel Powly, Marisa Tomei, and Bill Bur. While it could be argued that there were a handful too many of them (I counted at least 5), the film used a number of excellently edited montages that helped advance the character development; including Margie and Ray’s courtship, Scott taking care of Ray’s kids, his time at the firehouse, and his tattoo montage with Ray. The most important scene, in my opinion, happens when Scott goes out on a call for a fire in an apartment building. Standing by in awe (and what seems a lot like panic), Scott watches as Ray and the other firefighters methodically take to the scene and heroically do their jobs. The sequence plays out as a love letter to those that serve, without any of the drama that is used in movies, say like Backdraft, yet takes nothing away from the heroism of the firemen who put their lives on the line daily to help those in need. It’s in this moment that Scott comes to understand just how important the job is to the community at large, broadening his horizons outside of himself and giving insight into why firefighters, like his father, make the sacrifices that they do.
As much as I wanted to like this film, the strong performances from its supporting cast just weren’t enough to make the entire story or its main character compelling. It’s clear by the end of the movie that we have seen at least some character growth from Scott but it isn’t nearly enough to make the character likeable; the redemption simply falls short. Some might call it baby steps for someone who was so deeply entrenched in his directionless ways but I think the evidence against that is easily found when the audience is allowed to see what Scott did to Ray’s back. The quality of the work could be forgiven due to his lack of experience, but many of the images are also things that Ray specifically asked Scott not to do. Scott’s immaturity at the start of the film shows him breaking one of the biggest laws of tattooing: don’t work on a minor. By the end of the film, nothing has really changed as he is shown breaking yet another law: don’t tattoo something the customer doesn’t want. Scott’s willingness to concede some ground on becoming a responsible adult becomes overshadowed yet again by his arrogance and immaturity. I applaud the effort of dealing with such heavy concepts as it did. However, the execution fell a little flat proving that the path to redemption takes a lot more effort than The King of Staten Island was willing to give.
Riot’s Rating: 5.5/10
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