Once upon a time childhood ended for most young people when they graduated from high school -- even in college, after the age of eighteen, people were considered adults. That's when they came of age! But in 21st century America, childhood and "coming of age" seems to last until people are thirty. More and more Americans in their twenties are living at home, delaying marriage and childhood (the marriage and birth rates have plunged in recent years), and treating adulthood as a disease to be avoided at all costs.
That's a great way to say that this is exactly what the new movie The King of Staten Island is about -- a man of 24, living with his mother on Staten Island, unemployed and totally directionless, smoking tons of weed, hanging out with his posse of similar overgrown children, and hooking up with a girl who, despite her better judgement, loves this guy.
The guy in question is named Scott and he's played by Pete Davidson from Saturday Night Live. Based on Davidson's own life (whose from Staten Island and whose father died on 9/11), Scott is living through the trauma of his father's untimely death many years earlier, his sister who has now left home for college, and his widowed mother who is coming out of her shell and starting to date again. Scott is feeling left behind, miserable, but a series of events change the direction of his life and family -- giving this otherwise hopeless young man some hope for the future.
That's it. That's the whole plot of the movie.
And it is executed quite well. Davidson is a very good leading man, the supporting cast is just as interesting as him (especially Marissa Tomei who plays his mother), and there are lots of funny scenes. There are few movies about working class life, so it's great to see one when it comes along. The movie is directed by Judd Apatow quite well, and he gives it the humane, loving touch that he has in so many of his previous films. And yet, like his previous films, Apatow makes the movie too damn long. He tells an hour-and-a-half long story in almost two-and-a-half hours, there are lots of scenes that, while entertaining, are totally pointless, and, just when you think the move is over ... it goes on ... and on ... and on.
And, as the title suggests, it's a big Staten Island movie. The borough is shot and presented in a loving way, making it seem like a forgotten jewel beyond Manhattan and the rest of the city, the most loving portrait of the forgotten borough since Working Girl. At one point one of the characters observes that, one day, Staten Island will become a hot place to live like Brooklyn.
Enjoy.
It's hard to believe that Working Girl is twenty years but so it is. Along with The Big Chill, Fatal Attraction, Wall Street and a few others, this was one of those flicks that defined the 1980s. It has now become something of a quasi-feminist classic, with an empowering message to all women: girlfriend, you can have the great man and the great job! As Tess says, any smart, driven woman can have a "head for business and a bod for sin." Uh-HUH!
This is also a different sort of New York movie, one that actually takes place (or largely takes place) in one of the outer boroughs. This is easily the best movie ever made about Staten Island and the Staten Island ferry has been forever immortalized in it. Just take one trip on the Staten Island ferry and doubtless you'll hear someone say "This is just like Working Girl!"
Here's the original theatrical trailer. You might recognize the song that plays in it, "Let The River Run" by Carly Simon that won the Best Song Oscar for 1988.
P.S. It's also one of the first movies that shows a character using something that would become e-mail. Now it looks quaint but I'm sure in 1988 it was cutting edge.
In the wake of the 2008-2009 cultural phenomenon "Jersey Shore", guidos and guidettes become, very briefly, all the rage. Hence, more than 15 and a half years ago, yours truly paid tribute to this with this rather odd blog post about a Staten Island girl who had posted a video where she complained about not being married.
It's a hoot. Anyway, enjoy. And if you want even more Staten Island girls, including another one from the girl in the original 2009 video, see below:
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for many of his films (like this one). Eventually he migrated to LA and, a gay man, died of AIDS in 1991. He apparently suffered from bi-polar disorder, had drug and alchohol problems, could be insufferable and difficult, and yet was beloved by many. Like Mozart, he would up in a pauper's grave. And yet, here we are, 30 years after his death, and his movies are being shown on TV, folks like yours truly are writing about him, and his influence, and the influence of grindhouse cinema, has only blossomed since then. The movie director James Foley has died at the age of 71. You might not have heard of him but he made the movies At Plain Sight, Glengarry Glen Ross, as well as the last two 50 Shades movies. Born in Bayridge, raised on Staten Island, he was a New York boy who made his mark as a journeyman Hollywood director. He also directed several of Madonna's music videos at the height of her fame in the late 1980s -- including the famous, groundbreaking "Papa Don't Preach" video.
RIP.
Interesting sidenote: I was recently talking to a family friend who was in high school in the late 1980s. She liked to sneak away from school during free periods to smoke -- and one day she left school to light up and stumbled upon the production of the movie Who's That Girl? (also directed by James Foley). Long story short: my friend gave Madonna a light for her cigarette. And then, the next day, another one, and so on for a few more days. Small town.
