OVERVIEW
John Turturro is the only living pickpocket in New York, a veteran thief who learns the hard way that the city still has bigger sharks than him. After lifting the wrong item from the wrong person, he is pushed into a dangerous scramble across town to recover what he took, staying just ahead of the people closing in.
BACKGROUND
Noah Segan approached the film as an ode to days gone by. He has said he wanted to recall the New York he grew up in, along with the analog habits and devices that have disappeared. He also leaned into a throwback mood, citing character-led crime movies and New York anxiety comedies like After Hours and Mikey and Nicky. Segan sent the script to John Turturro, who responded quickly and asked to meet “tomorrow,” which led Segan to fly out that same night. The actor did his homework on pickpocketing, its technique and code, the whole craft. Thankfully, nobody at the Sundance premiere noticed their wallet missing.
EXECUTION
From the first notes of the understated, funereal piano motif of LCD Soundsystem’s “New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down,” to the lone tenor saxophone theme that follows Harry’s routine, to Turturro’s whole way of moving through the city, this is a movie that wants to feel like it was made in another era. Segan makes it tactile and nostalgic, and it is easy to sink into the vibe once you realize it is aiming for something smaller, steadier, and more human than a typical modern crime ride.
It is also an economical film, clocking in at only 88 minutes. It moves fast, lands a few effective jokes, throws in some twists, and builds suspense in short bursts. It tells a simple story and tells it well, giving you what you want from the premise.
Yet, despite being marketed as a crime thriller, it plays more like a focused and intimate character study, and a very interesting one at that. At first, it reads as formulaic: a thief with a soft spot, caring for his physically disabled wife, stealing mostly from jerks, following his own code. That honor shows in how he treats his friend Ben, played by Steve Buscemi, and Detective Warren, played by Giancarlo Esposito. It all makes sense to Harry, until he steals from the fast-talking, short-tempered Dylan, played extremely well by Will Price.
Turturro has always felt like an actor from a previous generation. His work in Severance, The Night Of, and The Batman already uses that quality well, but The Only Living Pickpocket in New York feels like a film that finally builds a whole character around it. Harry is so close to Turturro’s natural rhythm, the voice, the posture, even the way he reacts to modern tech, that it plays like a self-portrait in disguise. It is as if he is playing himself, just with lighter fingers.
His dynamic with Price is always electrifying, and their shared scenes are the film’s best. Beneath Dylan’s attitude, you can sense a reluctant respect for Harry, a kind of surprise at what this older guy can still pull off. The family matriarch, Moira, arrives late and frames Dylan as a growing problem, one that keeps getting faster and impossible to contain. It is a strong one-scene turn for Jamie Lee Curtis, even if the part feels tailor-made for Sharon Stone. Like Moira, Segan seems to believe the old world, while far from perfect, at least made sense. The new, rapidly changing digital world, full of AI and cryptocurrency, is unpredictable and frightening. There is no turning back now.
AFTERTASTE
Like its protagonist, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York is a film with plenty of tricks up its sleeve, that, despite looking straightforward and predictable, constantly misleads and surprises. The jazzy score gives it personality, and Turturro carries the film with that old-school authority he makes look effortless. It is a small, confident throwback that remembers how much pleasure you can get from character, rhythm, and a simple premise done right.