The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
It’s hard out there for an aging pickpocket like Harry (a flawless John Turturro in an instantly iconic coat), an analog man facing a digital world where people no longer carry cash. Gracing the streets of New York with his traditional elegance, Harry finds a kindred spirit in his partner-in-crime Ben (Steve Buscemi), and lovingly cares for his nonverbal wife, before he accidentally antagonizes the wrong sort: the spoiled scion (Will Price) of a crime family. In sending Harry on a five-borough odyssey to salvage the situation, Noah Segan’s elegiac knockout gently mourns the adrift qualities of a bygone era, while romantically portraying the city’s diverse communities that our desperate, GPS-less protagonist relies on for acts of kindness. There is poetry in Segan’s mournfully textured lens, accompanied by jazzy beats and timeless Big Apple ballads. A love letter to one of cinema’s favorite towns, Segan’s unassuming character study joins the ranks of great NYC movies. —Tomris Laffly
Director/s
