In ‘The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,' John Turturro is a gentleman thief in a Manhattan that has moved on
" The Only Living Pickpocket in New York " is about crime in the same way that "Casablanca" is about border security, which is to say not at all.
In creating a character study of a career criminal who is counterintuitively an honorable man, writer-director Noah Segan appears to be addressing a changing value system as the last vestiges of the 20th century give way to the 21st.
Segan, who is from a multigenerational New York family, seems certainly nostalgic for an old-school Manhattan, and he might surreptitiously be paying homage to an independent film ecosystem that no longer exists, since subsumed by the streaming and digital era.
But above all, the film is a towering tribute to the great character actor John Turturro , a stalwart of that indie era of the 1980s and '90s, whose distinctively lean angular face dominates the landscape.
Giancarlo Esposito and John Turturro in "The Only Living Pickpocket in New York." (Sony Pictures Classics)
Turturro is Harry Lehman, a pickpocket who is so good at his trade that he's been able to maintain a modest but solid existence, living in a New York walk up and caring for his incapacitated wife (Karina Arroyave).
More Information
"The Only Living Pickpocket in New York": Crime. Starring John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, Giancarlo Esposito, Will Price and Jamie Lee Curtis. Directed by Noah Segan. (R. 88 minutes.) In theaters Friday, Oct. 30.
His criminal life is so routine he's been going to the same fence, a pawn shop owner played by Steve Buscemi (" Wild Horse Nine "), and not very doggedly chased by the same NYPD detective (Giancarlo Esposito of " Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother ") for decades. The two are as familiar to Harry as the corner grocer or the neighborhood postal carrier.
But that way of life is fading into the past, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to score big. People don't carry much cash anymore - how do you lift someone's Apple Pay? - and sophisticated criminals have gone cyber long ago.
Then, one day Harry gets lucky and grabs a wallet stuffed with big bills. Except it turns out to be the opposite of luck: The hot-headed young man he fleeced, Dylan (Will Price), is connected to a low-level crime family, and suddenly Harry and his wife are in danger.
John Turturro stars as an aging thief in "The Only Living Pickpocket in New York." (Sony Pictures Classics)
The cat-and-mouse game between Harry and Dylan is an interesting one because it pits a man who is younger and less intelligent but who has a firm grasp of technology against one who is older and more wily but analog.
May the best criminal win.
Jamie Lee Curtis makes a cameo appearance in a key role near the end, adding to the '80s vibe.
Segan's tone is more elegiac than pulse-pounding, as "The Only Living Pickpocket in New York" is more a showcase for Turturro than a traditional thriller.
It feels like a career-capper, even though at 69 the actor who broke through in Spike Lee (with Esposito) and Coen Brothers movies (with Buscemi) back in the day may still have much ahead of him.
Subscribe
There's more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.
This article originally published at In 'The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,' John Turturro is a gentleman thief in a Manhattan that has moved on .
