'The King of Staten Island' is on On Demand June 12th, 2020.
The King of Staten Island is a semi-autobiographical film based on the life of star and co-writer Pete Davidson (Saturday Night Live). Like the main character, Scott, Davidson was only 7 when his firefighter dad died on the job. He has a little sister, Crohn's disease, and smokes a lot of weed. When Scott's sister heads off to college and his mom starts dating for the first time since his father's death, the 24-year-old slacker just might finally be forced into doing something productive with his life.
I opted not to watch the trailer beforehand, so all the movie's laughs caught me by surprise. Though I will say that they probably all occurred in the first hour or so, so I have a tough time calling this a comedy. The third act definitely seemed longer than it needed to be, and I could have done without a late scene glorifying firefighters.
With that said, as long as you don't go into the viewing expecting a barrel of laughs I think you'll find this film an enjoyable watch. There's solid performances from Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr and Steve Buscemi, a great soundtrack, and a touching coming-of-age arc for Davidson's character. It's not his best work, but director Judd Apatow offers a worthy movie to warm the hearts of video-on-demand viewers everywhere.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Joanna Connelly (Guest Contributor) was born and raised in Metro Detroit. A fan of thought-provoking thrillers and indie films, she also enjoys a good chick flick. When not at the movies, she can be found running, reading, or writing bar trivia. Click Here to check out Joanna's Articles.