John Turturro plays Harry, an OG pickpocket whose time has passed in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York. He’s a thief, but he plays by rules that define a code of honor. After he lifts a wallet and takes the cash, he drops it into a mailbox to get it back to its owner. He also nicks mobile phones and watches, but is frustrated with their high-tech, but non-fungible nature.
He has a deep in-person social network. His friend Ben (Steve Buscemi) is a fence, and he has an uneasy frenemies relationship with NYPD Detective Warren (Giancarlo Esposito) from back in the day. In his private life, Harry is a steadfast caregiver for his bedridden, unresponsive wife, Rosie (Karina Arroyave). Despite his occupation, he is a kind and gentle man, but he does take great pride in his professionalism. As Omar said in The Wire: “it’s all in the game.”
He dislikes modern tech, and has avoided it, which causes him to overlook the potential value of a USB card he finds in a bag he took from a beautifully restored vintage muscle car. When he visits a tech-savvy fence named Frank (Kelvin Han Yee), he is told the card is worthless, and what’s more, it’s trackable. Harry tells Frank to throw it away. The card is an irreplaceable crypto key belonging to Dylan (Will Price), the connected scion of a NY crime family that one does not steal from without consequences. Harry has inadvertently broken one of the cardinal rules of the game.
Dylan, who is young, college educated, and fluent with modern technology, tracks Harry down by hacking street cameras. He and his crew are waiting for Harry when he gets home. With Rosie as hostage, Dylan gives Harry just a few hours to retrieve the card, or bad things will happen to her.
“He’s a thief, but he has a traditional code of honor…”
Harry’s desperate quest for the card takes him (and the audience) on a ground-level tour of his New York. It’s old-school, with gritty charm and well worn spaces. The pace is slower and more analogue. People aren’t always looking at their phones.
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York is a warm, delightful film showcasing the cherished city of New York and three of our greatest character actors doing what they do best. Writer/director Noah Segan is clearly from the Spike Lee school of cinema, particularly as regards filming in New York. There are shades of 25th Hour here, as well as Lee’s newer film Highest 2 Lowest. With Turturro and Esposito starring, this film becomes something of a Do the Right Thing reunion.
We are treated to a delightful set of drop-in performances. As Harry’s estranged daughter, Kelly, Tatiana Maslany makes the most of a brief moment of screen time, and there’s another cameo from a beloved actress in a sinister, but still amiable, role, with a sense of martial virtue between adversaries that is rare now.
In The Simpsons, Grampa Simpson summed up the changes in life thusly: “I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I’m with isn’t it, and what’s it seems weird and scary to me, and it’ll happen to you, too.” The Only Living Pickpocket in New York poignantly illustrates this inevitability.
"…a warm, delightful film showcasing the cherished city of New York"
