
The Only Living Pickpocket In New York is directed by Noah Segan director of Blood Relatives (2022).
The Only Living Pickpocket In New York is one of those films were I went into it without really knowing anything about it besides the cast, I did not do this for any particular reason it just was not fully on my radar until I heard really good things about it after it premiered premiered at Sundance. Anyways this film is quite a great one, it has this classic 70s thriller feel throughout and delivers some beautifully done performances that really stick with the viewer.
The performances across the board are fantastic. John Turturro plays Harry Lehman, an aging pick pocket who takes care of his wife who is incredibly sick. Right from the beginning of the film Turturro comes out swinging with his performance, his conversations with the rest of the cast and even moments where he is just walking or traveling from borough to borough and letting the film’s catchy score do the talking. Turturro goes all in with this performance, one moment in particular is with Tatiana Maslany who plays Harry’s estranged daughter Kelly, it’s not a very long scene but it does give some character moments and is a pretty strong example of why Turturro is so excellent in this film.
The supporting performances from Steve Buscemi, Giancarlo Esposito and Tatiana Maslany in particular are very strong here. Maslany only gets one big scene (the earlier mentioned one) but it is quite fantastic and really shows how great she is as an actress, Esposito and Turturro going back and forth with their acting is truly fascinating even if the conversations they have is just catching up and small talk. Steve Buscemi is really great here and delivers this natural performance, him and Turturro are fantastic on screen together. There might not be a whole lot to these characters writing wise, but the performances are more than enough to make up for it.
The filming and atmosphere are phenomenally done here, the film actually shot in all five boroughs in New York (Manhattan, Queens, The Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island) which is really neat because it does bring this feel of each of the boroughs contributing to the film in their own ways. Some of them bring this bigger scale, others complement the lighting of the film and others have stronger story beats installed in them. Cinematographer Sam Levy does a fantastic job with the attention to detail, the film has a very 70s look that really does capture a 70s New York City.
The film’s themes of connections and relationships is quite strong here, throughout the film we constantly see Harry talk to several people from various points in his life, the relationship between him and his wife is tragic yet beautiful. Of course you have Harry’s friendship with Ben (played by Steve Buscemi) that’s incredibly fun and then you have Detective Warren and Harry who have went on two separate paths but they still have this respect for one another. Even though a lot of these moments are small, they work mainly due to the script really highlighting these moments.
Overall, The Only Living Pickpocket In New York is a fantastic film that really does capture a 1970s New York in this quite beautiful way. The movie does have a lot of cliches but the acting, filming, atmosphere and direction more than make up for it.
The Only Living Pickpocket In New York is currently in theaters.
9/10 A








