King Of Staten Island: To Watch Or To Skip?

The King Of Staten Island Review

Imagine the days when we all could go out freely without any fear. The pre-pandemic pleasures, when watching movies in theatres used to be a thrilling experience. Theatres are still closed, but a quintessential cinema temptation, a Judd Apatow comedy, has arrived at our home screens.

“The King of Staten Island” is written by Judd Apatow, Pete Davidson and Dave Sirius. The drama-comedy film is basically inspired by Davidson’s own life. The movie streaming on demand, features the Saturday Night Live prodigy, Pete Davidson. Being directed by Apatow, you can expect the 136 minutes to be compulsively disputatious yet funny.

The story revolves around a 24-year-old, Scott Carlin, who’s an amiable but aimless guy in his 20s like any other of his age. He seems to be loitering around in his childhood bedroom for either life or death to get a hold of him. He aspires to be a tattoo artist, at which he literally sucks, and he spends his time with his same lousy gang from high school. They all hang out in the same terrible basement, doing drugs and watching lousy movies.

The King of Staten Island looks most fascinating when it concedes the darkness eating away at the edges of Scott’s human-shrug-emoji persona. The film opens with Scott having a panic attack as he screws his eyes shut while driving down a busy road. Scott is open about his physical and mental health issues and averts real misery with wicked jokes, often self-deprecating humour. He has a hookup buddy(Bel Powley) and he tells her she deserves better than him, which depicts his sincere expression of low self-esteem.

In moments like these, the movie showcases the real progress for Apatow. Although the film is about Scott’s emotional journey, it still is more of a drama than a comedy, but features some solid humour. For Apatow, this movie is more of a personal connection and he silently showcases a part of his life on the big screen.

For Davidson, on the other hand, The King of Staten Island is a bundle of opportunities and gives him a platform to showcase his potential. Davidson might not be a great actor but his skills are definitely worth watching. He does have a personality that is so original that it makes him irreplaceable and irresistible. No matter how off-putting or obnoxious Scott acts, Davidson remains fascinating to watch.

The connection at the heart of The King of Staten Island is a contentious one, as Scott and his mother’s new boyfriend, Ray (Bill Burr)  try to withstand each other and drive each other out of the house since both don’t like each other much. Scott doesn’t seem to be accepting Ray because after 17 years his mom gets into a relationship with someone who’s again a firefighter, like his late father. But Ray seems to help Scott and helps him realize that he doesn’t need to see a therapist to understand his bound up feelings. He tells him to face his feelings and fears and let it out.

As for the conclusion of The King Of Staten Island review, Apatow’s always been the one to take the long scenic route which explains the length of the movie, 136 minutes. After the conflicts, going throughout the movie, the ending is worth the wait. The last stretch of the movie is its sharpest and most bittersweet, as Scott starts to realize what his dad really was and how he wants himself to be. But as Scott steps into the light, squinting at the sky, it feels, finally, like this kid is going to be all right.

The King of Staten Island is available on video on demand now.

A Review By:TheNuttyScribes