So here’s my take on the King of Staten Island, a semi-autobiographical
dramedy starring Pete Davidson. You know
Pete, he’s on Saturday Night Live, looks a bit like a wonky version of Mick
Jagger. His mouth is huge, that’s why I
said Mick Jagger, not a Grouper. Anyway,
he has a lot going on for someone who, at the age of 24, has been living with
his widowed ER/School Nurse mother (Marisa Tomei), is trying to start up a
business combining tattoos and food, a restaurant
ink parlor, and I bet you can’t guess the name.
It’s actually pretty brilliant. The only drawback is that his talent
hasn’t be honed to work in a parlor. That
being said, it’s rare that you, unless you’re living like this, get to see what
happens if you’re directionless in life and making questionable, if not
downright stupid, choices.
His major
relationships, mother-son, brother-sister, friends, girlfriend, mother’s
new boyfriend (comedian Bill Burr) and the irony that he’s a fireman, just like
Pete’s father who passed when he was 7 years old, are blended together
beautifully. There is plenty of drug
use, swearing, not as much sex as you’d think, crimes gone way wrong and Steve
Buscemi*, what more could you want? I,
for one, was just happy when the film stopped acting up, i.e., pausing and
buffering in the middle of a scene, and got to see the whole shebang from start
to finish (streaming can sometimes be fraught with peril). Not recommended for children
by any stretch of the imagination, but a good guide for parents who have kids
that just can’t seem to leave the nest.
Rating: Bong hits for Jesus,
belly button cat’s behind tat, mental health awareness celebration, and a hot
time in the old town tonight…3.75 stars *Was a New York City Fire Department Fireman (thank you for your service, Steve).
