If it were any other year I would venture to guess that Pete Davidson’s turn in The King of Staten Island could end up being the breakout performance of the summer. Being that it’s 2020 and going to the movies just isn’t something we do anymore, I am going to venture to guess that it’ll be talked about a lot but not considered a breakout. Short of Joe Exotic, we just don’t do breakout performances right now.
The King of Staten Island is a Judd Apatow-directed film which hits VOD on June 12. King follows a young man, Scott (Davidson), as he reaches a crossroads in his life. Does he continue to smoke pot constantly, live at home with his mom and never achieve anything? Or does he grapple with the grief he has felt since his father’s death and attempt to make something of himself? On the surface, that doesn’t sound like it would be very funny at all. This is a comedy, right? But the new trailer below suggests that there will be a lot of laughs mixed with the drama. That is a good and a bad thing. Good because it means we could get a deeper film, something with real emotion and soul. But it’s also bad because, while Apatow loves to dig through real humanity and drama in his films, he sometimes over-indulges and leaves us with something bloated and not particularly funny or dramatic. I am hoping he finds the right balance here.
I like Davidson. I think he’s a funny dude and I really admire his very honest, direct communication about his mental health issues. And I like Apatow too, he has always felt that comedies can be more than fart and dick jokes. I want The King of Staten Island to succeed and I have a good feeling about it. I think this could be the sweet spot for both Davidson and Apatow.
Due to the coronavirus, The King of Staten Island is going to bypass theaters completely and head straight to VOD on the 12th of June. I wish it had found a streaming home like Netflix instead because I feel that it would get more viewers that way but let’s hope it builds some sort of audience next month.