“The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” depicts the love and beauty of New York, while following one man’s fight for survival.
Released on Oct. 30, the crime drama follows Harry Lehman, a petty thief from the Bronx who struggles to accept the impending death of his craft. The talents of the career pickpocket are increasingly rendered useless in the digital age, but he must make ends meet to care for his catatonic wife.
When he lifts the wallet of dangerous mark, he must race against time to return a valuable flash drive before his wife is murdered as punishment.
John Turturro, who played Irving in “Severance,” brought enough heart and charisma to the performance of Lehman that audiences can still share and relate to his character, but the film is truly for New York by New York. Writer and director Noah Segan beautifully captured both the aesthetics and the people of the city.
Lehman still pays in cash, listens to CDs and wears a 20-year-old watch. The character clings to the ways and times of his past, a struggle young audiences are unfamiliar with, but the themes of love, connection and community will resonate with anyone.
Turturro is tender when he dances to “Native New Yorker” by Odyssey for his unresponsive wife and raw when he fights to free her from the young man threatening to kill her, which make his performance compelling and dynamic.
A film with a runtime of an hour and a half is hard to come by today, but “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” says what it needs to and shows the rest. There’s plenty of time spent following Lehman as he navigates the cityscape, but these shots slow down the pace and allow the audience to sit with Lehman in his fear, grief or reflection.
One of the more tear-jerking scenes is when he knocks on the door of his estranged daughter’s house. Kelly, played by Tatiana Maslany, resents his lifestyle and how he was absent in her life because of it. It is a heartbreaking depiction of hope, regret and grief that comes with complicated families.
This film is truly special and captures a feeling that is hard to articulate, but some audiences may leave the theater unable to grasp an indescribable loneliness. They may leave with the feeling of missing something, something only a New Yorker could understand.
Though “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” is advertised as a crime drama and thriller, it’s really a love story. It’s about what one man will do for the woman he loves, with the friends he loves, in the city he loves.
