Comedy impresario Judd Apatow has a penchant for a specific filmic formula: lightly biographical star-driven vehicles that are lengthy hangout movies with some flimsy conflict laid on top to keep things moving. The best of these capture the essence of a performer, like the Adam Sandler vehicle “Funny People,” while the weaker entries (“This is 40”) just sort of exist. Fortunately, his new film, “The King of Staten Island,” starring “Saturday Night Live” enfant terrible and tabloid staple Pete Davidson, tends more toward the poignantly humanistic qualities of “Funny People.” But that doesn’t mean Apatow doesn’t still get hung up on some of his peccadillos.
Apatow’s greatest strength as a filmmaker is an eye for charismatic performers who are just fun to be around, and “The King of Staten Island” is a testament to that. In Davidson, Apatow has a uniquely compelling young comedian with a tragic life story: Davidson’s father, Scott Davidson (to whom the film is dedicated in memory of), was a New York City firefighter who was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks while trying to rescue folks at the World Trade Center. The script, by Davidson, Apatow and “SNL” writer Dave Sirus, is a lightly fictionalized biographical yarn. Davidson stars as a 24-year old burnout, Scott, living at home on Staten Island, dealing with the loss of his father, a firefighter who died in a hotel fire, which he has never processed or come to terms with. As his younger sister (Maude Apatow) moves out and his mom (Marisa Tomei) moves on, what is Scott to do? Watch the trailer here.
Scott’s coming of age can only come from reckoning with his past. That’s the truly moving stuff at the core of the film, but like Scott’s arrested development, it takes its sweet time getting there. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad time, though. The film captures Davidson’s skinny, tattoo-covered appeal, and places him in situations where his natural charm shines. Those situations just don’t really go anywhere. It’s a joy to watch him interact with the young children of his mother’s new boyfriend, Ray (Bill Burr), as he walks them to school; it’s just that the entire premise of him walking them to school is far-fetched and doesn’t ever end up paying off in any meaningful way. This could be said about any number of the enjoyable characters Scott passes the time with: his pill-peddling buddies, his sister, his restaurant co-workers.
The only scenarios that take Scott on an emotional arc are his on-off relationship with Kelsey (Bel Powley), and his begrudging friendship with the guys at the firehouse, a place Scott avoids due to the trauma of losing his father. It’s only when his mother kicks him and Ray (also a fireman) out of her house for squabbling that Scott ventures into this fraternity where he can begin his healing, 90 minutes into this two-hour, 16-minute film. It feels like the first and second halves of the film are two different movies, as the grimy, good-natured hangout morphs into a heartwarming story of personal growth.
It’s a testament to the power of the amazing supporting cast that you just wish the film were a bit more focused. Actors like Pamela Adlon and Moises Arias are incredible, but we’re given just a small taste, rather than any fully developed storylines. This is Scott’s tale, and Davidson’s story, and while this memoirist film strikes a singularly irreverent yet soulful note, it is hampered by a few too many distractions.
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‘THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND’
3 stars
Cast: Pete Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Bel Powley, Maude Apatow, Pamela Adlon, Steve Buscemi, Moises Arias.
Directed by Judd Apatow.
Running time: 2 hours, 16 minutes
Rated R for language and drug use throughout, sexual content and some violence/bloody images.
Available on demand and on digital platforms Friday
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Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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