Does The King Of Staten Island Deserve Its Crown?

The King Of staten island [2020] [Universal Pictures]

The King of Staten Island, a new addition to the long line of Judd Apatow movies, came out in June of 2020. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the audience gave The King of Staten Island a score of 85 percent, and critics have said an assortment of encouraging, if not great, things about it.

Summary

The King of Staten Island begins by introducing us to Scott (Pete Davidson), a 24 wannabe tattoo artist living with his widowed mother, Margie (Marisa Tomei) and his sister. He spends his days smoking pot and hanging out with his somewhat deadbeat friends. After the surmounting grief of his father’s passing in a fireman accident when he was seven, Scott has a very hard time with his mental illnesses, which affects his relationships. After a string of dead-end conversations and morally questionable actions, he’s surprised by the announcement of his mother being in a serious relationship, even more surprised when he finds out that the man who’s seeing his mother is Ray (Bill Burr), the rude father of the nine-year-old boy he tattooed.

Thus being where the movie kicks into high gear. At the start, Scott tried to be somewhat supportive of Margie’s new relationship, but as the movie progresses, the more he dislikes Ray and the more he tries to sabotage it. And so, naturally, he decides to dig up dirt on Ray, reveal it all to his mother, get kicked out of his childhood home, become homeless…and run right back to Ray. Little did they know it was the beginning of a wonderful friendship or at least less of a hatred. 

Mental Health Representation

The King of Staten Island is a uniquely genuine and relatable film. Accompanied by questionable characters, surprising growth and quite a few laughs. Something that spoke to me while watching this was the mental health representation; since you don’t always see that in drama-comedies. I liked that Scott was flawed in that way because of his father’s death as well as how that’s a prominent part of his character. However, I noticed that Scott’s mental health issues were pushed to the backseat once the movie started picking up. It’s something that I find quite unfortunate because once it was mentioned, it was practically never brought up again. Regardless, I appreciate that the movie chose to include mental illnesses, and I found that how it was represented via Scott felt very authentic to me and how I view mental health.  

The Unexpected Friendship

The king of staten island [2020] [universal pictures]

Later in the film, when Scott gets kicked out by his mother after a series of bad decisions and drifts from place to place; he finally ends up at the one spot and the one person he knows he would have a shot at staying in. The firehouse where Ray works. He convinces Ray by bargaining his mother’s love and is lent a sofa, with the agreement of helping Scott for this one night. However, when Scott is about to get kicked out once again, Papa (Steve Buscemi) agrees to let him stay in exchange for work. This is where we see Scott finally come into himself as a character. It’s where he learns to honour his father’s memory but also move on from it. We watch him learn to grow in an array of hilarious and surprisingly tender moments. 

All in all, I do think this is a good film. With hardships and flaws and love delicately interwoven between them. It’s a movie that depicts how people are not often perfect and are hard to love sometimes. Yet, it’s also about how love isn’t easy like that; it requires understanding and patience. But if you’re willing to try, it can be incredibly rewarding. Even people from Staten Island deserve love.

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Linda Deslauriers

Linda is the most “fangirly” person you will likely ever meet. She’s a second-year student in Algonquin College’s Professional Writing program. She enjoys hot chocolate, rainy evenings, literature, and cinema. If looking for her, you will find her on her bed; enthralled in whatever new addiction she’s developed since.