John Turturro’s Sundance standout from Noah Segan finally hits theaters Oct. 23, with Steve Buscemi, Giancarlo Esposito and Tatiana Maslany alongside.
John Turturro‘s best performance in years finally reaches the city it was made about. Sony Pictures Classics opens The Only Living Pickpocket in New York in New York and Los Angeles this Friday, Oct. 23, before it goes nationwide Oct. 30, ending a nine-month run from Sundance through Berlin, Telluride, Toronto, the New York Film Festival and Zurich.
We caught Noah Segan‘s film at Sundance in January and gave it four and a half stars, calling Turturro’s work as aging pickpocket Harry Lehman “one of the finest of his career.” Nothing since has changed that view. If anything, the official trailer, which Sony Classics released in August, undersells how quiet and specific the movie is.
The Story
Turturro plays Harry, an old-school New York thief whose trade depended on cash, crowds and nobody paying attention. Wallets have turned into phones and credit cards that cancel in seconds, and Harry is barely covering the care of his wife, Rosie. One lift from the wrong car leaves him holding a USB drive full of cryptocurrency that belongs to a volatile young criminal played by Will Price, and he has hours to get it back before that family comes for Rosie.
The supporting cast is stacked with New York faces. Steve Buscemi plays Harry’s longtime fence, Giancarlo Esposito a detective being pushed aside for younger officers, and Tatiana Maslany his estranged daughter. Victoria Moroles also appears.
A Spike Lee Reunion
The Turturro and Esposito pairing carries history. Both were Spike Lee regulars who shared the screen in Do the Right Thing and Mo’ Better Blues, and Segan’s street-level New York feels like it was built for actors who came up in that tradition. Sam Levy’s photography, shot across subway cars, Chinatown storefronts and pawn shops, owes more to 1970s city films than to anything polished.
Segan is best known as an actor in Rian Johnson‘s films, from Brick to Looper to the Knives Out series, and Johnson and Ram Bergman are executive producers here. This is Segan’s second feature as writer and director after the horror comedy Blood Relatives, and the jump is significant.
The Awards Picture
Sony Pictures Classics bought worldwide rights after Sundance, and awards watchers have pegged the film as a best actor vehicle for Turturro. It is a crowded year. Our best actor breakdown counted nine real contenders for five slots, and a platform release this late in October lives or dies on its New York and Los Angeles per-screen averages over the first two weekends. Turturro has been working the circuit, including Saturday’s Academy Museum Gala.
For New Yorkers, this one is worth seeing in the city it is about, with a crowd that will recognize every subway platform.
Watch the Trailer
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 23, and expands nationwide Oct. 30. Watch the official trailer below.
