To hear the title The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, there are a lot of things that run through my head. The concept of the pickpocket being a dying art is not something I have really thought about, but in an age where many businesses are electronic-payment-only, less and less people are carrying cash or are investing in wallets that sit in the front pocket versus the rear. Sure, you have those who wear expensive watches and the like, but the traditional image of the pickpocket is one that truly has changed.
Actor/writer/director Noah Segan breaks away from his horror work behind the camera here as John Turturro stars as Harry, who refuses to join the digital age. He is one of the best at lifting things off of others no matter where he goes, but when he lifts the wallet and travel bag of the wrong guy, he needs to get it back as the consequences of his actions put him in a race against time.
Looking at the one-sheet for this film boasting a cast that includes Giancarlo Esposito, Tatiana Maslany, and Steve Buscemi (along with a couple of surprises along the way), make no mistake: this IS Harry’s story. Putting Turturro in a script that takes place across all of New York City’s Burroughs seems like a given, but as much as those locales play a role here, the focus is truly on him and the stakes of what he has stolen. The rest of the cast DOES contribute to the main story, but to use “co-star” with any of them would do the expectation of their presences a disservice. While I enjoy each and every one of them, I am not sure the film itself would be different if any of them were re-cast, which also is part of the drawback here.
I do appreciate that this film does not cross the ninety-minute threshold, but this is a rare case where I would like to have seen more. I never felt emotionally connected or invested in any of the characters which works to this film’s detriment. I wanted to know more about who they were, where they came from, why they were where they were, and more, but this script never quite gets there. I won’t say blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, but we are in the ballpark here. A few more scenes that would deepen relationships between the characters would give more depth and substance to a unique story and in a strange way would take a bleak script (done on purpose) and ramp up the intensity.
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York is a true indie film that knows its lane and stays in it. It doesn’t try to be this grand spectacle that film tends to lean towards in the modern age, and I for one appreciate that. This is not a film that I would say needs to be rushed out to see but it is also one you should take off of your list of “to see” if it is already there.