The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
From the title of Noah Segan’s new film, “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,” you might think there actually are still pickpockets operating in New York City. In this day of cybercrime and ransomware, can pickpocketing even still be thing? Segan’s original screenplay would lead us to believe it is. And if not, it certainly makes for an understated yet supremely captivating new motion picture.
The pickpocket
John Turturro – still one of our most underrated character actors after a film career that commenced almost 40 years ago – plays Harry Lehman, a good-hearted ne’er-do-well who has spent his entire “professional” career swiping purses and wallets for cash. In this day and age of Amazon purchases and online banking, many people don’t even carry cash anymore. And Harry doesn’t even want their credit cards. Suffice to say the pickin’s are a little slim now in his line of work. And Harry’s such a nice guy, he typically throws his victims’ billfolds and bags into city trash cans, in hopes that the authorities will eventually return them to their rightful owners.
Steals from the wrong guy
One night, Harry pickpockets a young man named Dylan (newcomer Will Price) while admiring his vintage sportscar in a parking lot. Later breaking into the vehicle, Harry swipes Dylan’s workout bag, steals a USB card, and tosses the bag into a subway trash can. He doesn’t even know what a USB is – and the fact that he calls it a “USD” is a source of humor – so he shows it to his pawn shop friend Ben, played by the equally long-underrated character actor Steve Buscemi. Ben is at least familiar with USBs and data cards, but his store computer is so old it can’t open the device – another source of humor. The size of the monitor alone reminds me of something Radio Shack used to sell.
Unbeknownst to Harry, the device has a tracker on it, and when Harry returns the next day with a small load of loot for Ben to purchase, he sees the pawn shop has been pillaged – presumably by Dylan and his friends. Begging the question, “Why didn’t Dylan go to the authorities when he realized his bag had been stolen?” We learn why later when Harry returns to his Bronx apartment to find Dylan and two young thugs holed up with his comatose wife Rosie. Apparently, Dylan comes from a mob family, and he gives Harry less than a day to return the crypto wallet.
Fearing imminent death
Fearing he may have finally met his match, Harry visits his estranged daughter in Queens in a feeble but heartbreaking attempt to amend a lifetime of neglect and missed fatherhood opportunities. Meanwhile, Ben’s daughter Eve (Victoria Moroles) is able to clone the crypto wallet and use the two-factor authentication from the stolen smartwatch to access Dylan’s bank account.
Old school
And herein lies the genius of Segan’s original screenplay. Harry and Sam are old school. How much longer will Harry be able to operate as a pickpocket and make a living – even in overcrowded New York? For that matter, how much longer will Ben be able to make a living running a corner pawn shop? Are there even people willing to buy and resell stolen goods anymore? Harry sees his craft quickly becoming obsolete in an ever-changing world. To wit, it takes Ben’s young daughter’s technological skill to get even with Dylan.
Heck, not only does Harry have difficulty operating cell phones, but he doesn’t even own a cell phone! He still has a landline in his apartment. Even my 89-year-old mother owns a cell phone. And Harry (again, comically) continues to ask people for directions to various locations because even if he did have a cell phone, he wouldn’t know how to operate the GPS! He writes down important information – sometimes on his hand. And in the film’s most touching relationship, he maintains an ongoing rapport with an aging police detective named Alan. He’s played by yet another veteran character actor, Giancarlo Esposito – who first worked with Turturro back in 1989 in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing.”
A little outside the law
Alan knows Harry. He knows Harry’s life of crime. But as a New York cop, he also knows how to pick his battles. No sense going after Harry when there are “real” criminals to lock up. And much as with Harry, Alan sees the world advancing around him at an ever-increasing pace. He laments to Harry that he used to have his own office; now, his department has been relocated to a couple small cubicles in the back room – while the younger officers handle the “big” crime up front. The two maintain the type of relationship which allows Harry to share intelligence with Alan regarding mutual acquaintances without fear of retribution. Likewise, Alan isn’t above sharing information with Harry when his life may be in danger. Outside the law? Technically, yes. But their long friendship practically requires the bending of certain rules.
John Turturro
Esposito is excellent as the understated veteran cop. Turturro is absolutely magnificent as the sad sack petty thief unable to come to terms with life in the 2020s. Turturro reminds me somewhat of Adam Sandler’s late-career “serious film” characters – like those he played in “Jay Kelly” and “Hustle” – except without “acting” so openly and obviously as Sandler does. Turturro slides into the role of Harry the way a hand slides into a warm comfortable glove in the winter. Turturro and the role just “fit.” He was born to play Harry. And we barely notice he’s acting at all. Heck, “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” could practically be a documentary. Even during the heartbreaking scene with his daughter, Turturro’s performance feels real. Is it a coincidence that three of this year’s best performances have been by Ian McKellen (“The Christophers”), Willem Dafoe (“Late Fame”) and Turturro (“The Last Living Pickpocket in New York”)?
Similar to “Late Fame”
In a way, “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” reminds me most of Kent Jones’ recent “Late Fame,” in which Willem Dafoe plays a former published writer unable to keep up with recent changes in the publishing industry and the literary world. Particularly with the advancement of AI, technology in the world is accelerating at a rapid-fire pace. Not everyone – particularly in my generation – is able to keep up. Those who cannot adapt fall further behind. “The Last Living Pickpocket in New York” is an ode to a simpler time when the good guys and bad guys had clearly defined roles. Is it a masterpiece? No. And it will be lost in the slew of Oscar bait coming in the next couple months. But it’s certainly worth checking out – if nothing else, to see some of the greatest character actors refining their craft for a younger audience.
Andy Ray‘s reviews also appear on https://townepost.com/tag/film-review/