‘The King of Staten Island’ Review

Pete Davidson is an often controversial member of SNL. He isn’t too scared to make dark commentary as he takes touchy subjects and makes jokes about them. Particularly, he usually makes self-deprecating humor where he’ll critique an aspect of his own life and find ways to joke about it. The King of Staten Island really shows a more sensitive side to him, and how his comedy may be more of a defense mechanism that covers up his true emotions.

Plot

The King of Staten Island is directed by Judd Apatow and stars Davidson, along with co-stars Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, and Steve Buscemi. Davidson plays Scott, a young man who has faced emotional trauma since his father, who was a fireman, passed early on in his childhood. He is now 24 and has talent, but has achieved little as he spends most of his time goofing around with his friends. The film follows him as he tries to turn his life around while navigating his relationships with his family and his friends.

Plenty of great performance from comedic actors

I really liked all of the characters in this movie. Scott’s friends are all likable with their own distinct traits. I especially liked his girlfriend and his sister who are both just trying to figure him out and help him. 

Tomei gives a good performance as his mother, but I think the most surprising performance was from Bill Burr. He has a much larger role in this movie than I thought he would and I thought he nailed it. He shows that he is a good dramatic actor, while still being able to work in comedy.

Your enjoyment of this film could also depend on whether you like Pete Davidson or not. He is in his element here and if you don’t like his type of humor, you probably won’t like him in this movie. Personally, I think Davidson is really funny and I enjoy his stand-up and appearances on SNL. He shows in this movie that he is capable of a lot more nuance. 

He is vulnerable a lot in this movie, while still relying on his dark and sarcastic type of humor. He does a good job at displaying the emotional mess that his character is behind his comedic shell.

The story goes on for too long

The only real issue that I had in this movie is the length. The film is about 2 hours and 15 minutes and about 20-30 minutes could be edited out maybe. None of it was necessarily bad, but there are moments that don’t do much to drive the plot forward. Apatow doesn’t show Davidson trying to get his life together until about 90 minutes into the movie. 

The best part of the movie is Davidson living in the fire station and we have to wait a while before that happens. I really liked the bonding between the firemen and how they give Davidson a sense of purpose that he never really found. It does get a bit boring in the middle of the movie before Davidson gets to the fire station because the main plot really hasn’t kicked in yet.

Apatow is often known for adding emotional moments into his comedies and this movie has a lot of them. Davidson has a lot of emotional problems and the film immediately starts with some troubling stuff. The relationships between characters can also get very tense. It is still a funny movie. I laughed pretty hard at some lines. A lot of it is dark humor, so if you are not a fan of that, you may not like this brand of comedy. I like dark comedy so many of the jokes landed for me.

Final verdict

Overall, The King of Staten Island is a solid movie. It is a bit overlong, but the ride is still very enjoyable. Davidson and Burr are the two highlights of the movie, but the supporting cast is still pretty good. It is a funny movie, but it also leans heavily into its more emotional moments and doesn’t shy away from anything. If you like Apatow’s other movies and Davidson, then you will have a good time with this one.

Final score: 4/5