Latest / Nashville Movie Dispatch / Vick's Flicks, Ep. 195: The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

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Vick's Flicks, Ep. 195: The Only Living Pickpocket in New York · Nashville Movie Dispatch

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Reviews, news, deep dives into filmographies, and really, whatever the
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  Speaker 1: hell we want to talk about from the movie world.
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  Speaker 1: This is the VixFlix Podcast on Nashville Movie Dispatch.
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  Speaker 2: Well, looky here, a bonus VIXFLIX episode right before Halloween.
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  Speaker 2: You're welcome. I'm your host, Sir Brandon Vick, member of
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  Speaker 2: the Southeastern Film Critics Association, board member of the Music
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  Speaker 2: City Film Critics Association, and of course, the resident film
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  Speaker 2: critic at Nashville Movie Dispatch. You can see and read
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: all of our work at NashvilleMovieDispatch.substack.com and, of course, podcasts
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: like this one, along with the Cinema Chronicles, the Drinking Whiz,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: the Movie Review Rewinds. You can listen to them wherever
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: you get your podcasts. So this is, I like to
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: do these every now and then, and this one, I think,
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  Speaker 2: is a perfect one to do it. on as a
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: bonus episode, a movie that there's a lot out. I
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: don't know if any of y'all have been checking that
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: AMC or Regal app. I don't know. Maybe you still
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: call Fandango. I'm not sure, but there are a lot
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  Speaker 2: of choices out there to go see at the big
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  Speaker 2: screen or on the big screen, but there is this
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  Speaker 2: movie starring the one and only John Turturro. He is
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  Speaker 2: a legendary actor actor has been in almost every movie
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  Speaker 2: that's ever been made. One of the most reliable, but
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  Speaker 2: also I still feel like overlooked actor, uh, John Totoro.
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  Speaker 2: It is a film called the only living pickpocket in
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  Speaker 2: New York. It's going out nationwide starting Friday. Uh, so
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  Speaker 2: that could be today. If you're listening to this today, uh,
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  Speaker 2: if you're listening to it on Friday, but, um, Also
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  Speaker 2: getting some serious Oscar buzz for him, for his performance.
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  Speaker 2: He's never been nominated before, so I think that is
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  Speaker 2: exciting in itself. The fact that this could be a
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  Speaker 2: real awards contender for him and the film. So, let's
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  Speaker 2: get into it. This is Purr Rotten Tomatoes. Harry Lehman,
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  Speaker 2: Jean Totoro, is an aging pickpocket who plies his trade
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  Speaker 2: with ever-diminishing returns in a drastically changed New York. Wallets
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  Speaker 2: stuffed with cash have been replaced by easily canceled credit cards,
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  Speaker 2: and Harry struggles to make ends meet as he cares
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  Speaker 2: for his disabled wife, Rosie. When he unwillingly purloins and
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  Speaker 2: fences a valuable USB stick, Harry finds himself in a
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  Speaker 2: race against time to return the loot or face the
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  Speaker 2: rage of a vengeful crime family. So, this is written
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  Speaker 2: and directed by Noah Sagan, and he has crafted a
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  Speaker 2: sublime character study, as well as a marvelous modern crime
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  Speaker 2: drama that's this loving tribute kind of throwback to the
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  Speaker 2: 70s and 80s neo-noir films. It's old school in every
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  Speaker 2: way imaginable, and it's beautiful. Totoro said he's an underrated
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  Speaker 2: actor who can truly play anything in any genre. He's
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  Speaker 2: been in a few, at least a few of the
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  Speaker 2: Coen Brothers movies, Barton Fink, Brother Where Art Thou, The
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  Speaker 2: Big Lebowski. He's also been in Mr. Deeds, and he's
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: been in The Batman, Matt Reeves' Batman, Anger Management, and
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  Speaker 2: even in a Transformers movie. And I have seen where
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  Speaker 2: a lot of critics, I talked about how this is
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  Speaker 2: kind of an awards contender for him, and I heard
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  Speaker 2: where a lot of other critics have called this the
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  Speaker 2: best performance of his career, which is saying a lot.
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  Speaker 2: But you know what? I'm going to have to agree.
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  Speaker 2: I think they're right. I think this is probably his
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  Speaker 2: best performance yet. He's finally the leading man, and he's magnificent.
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  Speaker 2: while also with such just incredible internalizing as he brilliantly
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  Speaker 2: portrays this clever thief who's devoted to what he does
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  Speaker 2: while maintaining this classic code of honor that's extremely rare
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  Speaker 2: these days. There was an Entertainment Weekly article where it says,
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  Speaker 2: John Turturro says he pickpocketed a lot of people to
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  Speaker 2: prepare for the role. The article says, Totoro trained with
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  Speaker 2: a sleight of hand artist to learn the tricks of
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  Speaker 2: his on-screen train. Apollo Robbins is like a concert pianist,
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  Speaker 2: Totoro told the New York Times. I'm never going to
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  Speaker 2: be that. I mean, he could take my watch off
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  Speaker 2: and every single time I don't feel it. The Barton
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  Speaker 2: Fink star said Robbins gave him exercises with coins to
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  Speaker 2: practice and also taught him how to bump someone for
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  Speaker 2: a swift pickpocket. He says, I kept practicing mostly on
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  Speaker 2: set The cast and crew of the film became the
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  Speaker 2: actors' unwitting victims. I pickpocketed a lot of people. Sometimes
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  Speaker 2: they would catch me, but a lot of times they
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  Speaker 2: didn't know. Totoro also practiced on the subway in New
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  Speaker 2: York and would get his hands as close as possible
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  Speaker 2: to wallets and phones of fellow commuters, but stopped short
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  Speaker 2: of actually taking anything. He says, I came really close.
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  Speaker 2: I just wanted to feel the thrill, the nerves of
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  Speaker 2: what it would be like. So Just like his profession,
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  Speaker 2: Harry is a dying breed as the world around him
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  Speaker 2: has drastically changed and is passing him by. He's been
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  Speaker 2: a hustler all of his life, and there is irreparable
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  Speaker 2: damage and deep regrets that come with that. Even so,
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  Speaker 2: his love for his wife is quite moving, and him
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  Speaker 2: taking care of her is in, obviously, some ways of
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  Speaker 2: kind of this act of redemption, or at least his
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  Speaker 2: attempt at it. As said in the film, it's a
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  Speaker 2: second chance of doing stuff the right way. This was a,
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  Speaker 2: this is per RogerEbert.com interview. The title is The Things
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  Speaker 2: That Make You Who You Are. John Totoro on the
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  Speaker 2: only living pickpocket in New York. And one of the
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  Speaker 2: questions asked in this was why the world of pickpockets?
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  Speaker 2: And how do you find a way to bring this
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  Speaker 2: quiet humanity and vulnerability that makes an audience root for you,
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  Speaker 2: even though you're doing something that we don't agree with?
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  Speaker 2: And Totoro says, there are movies about really bad, really
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  Speaker 2: terrible criminals, serial killers, and things like that. I thought
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  Speaker 2: the script was beautiful when I read it. It takes
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  Speaker 2: place in this Aristotle time where they would tell a
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  Speaker 2: story in 24 hours. This is 36 hours where this
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  Speaker 2: guy does what he can to make a living. He
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  Speaker 2: didn't take care of his daughter, but now he definitely
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  Speaker 2: has grown. Now he has someone he takes care of
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  Speaker 2: and he's trying to survive the only way he knows.
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  Speaker 2: Noah says, talking about the writer director, gave me all
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  Speaker 2: this history of pickpockets from the 1880s into the 20th century.
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  Speaker 2: He goes on to say there's a book called The
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  Speaker 2: Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid by Colin Malloy about
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  Speaker 2: a band of child pickpockets. He says, imagine it as
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  Speaker 2: a combination of like the invention of Hugo Cabaret meets
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  Speaker 2: Oliver Twist. And then he says in this other book,
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  Speaker 2: The Big Con by David W. Moore is about a
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  Speaker 2: guy who interviews all these pickpockets. They usually paid the
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  Speaker 2: cops off to give them a time window to do it.
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  Speaker 2: They dressed well. The idea was to do nothing noticeable.
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  Speaker 2: If one person got arrested, the others would bail them out.
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  Speaker 2: They would maybe go to another town for a while,
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  Speaker 2: then come back. He says, so they had a different
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  Speaker 2: point of view of the world. Many of these people
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  Speaker 2: were poor and abandoned and they found a little family
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  Speaker 2: with their own code for taking care of each other.
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  Speaker 2: They weren't into heavy crime and many of them would
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  Speaker 2: put the wallet in the mailbox because they just wanted
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  Speaker 2: the cash. One woman became a really good pickpocket after
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  Speaker 2: watching other pickpockets. Says this guy followed her and he said,
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  Speaker 2: I've been watching you. You're amazing. Let's work together. She agreed.
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  Speaker 2: They did their thing and parted ways. He said her
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  Speaker 2: hands were so tiny she could slip them in and
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  Speaker 2: out anywhere. So DeTore goes back to talking about Harry
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  Speaker 2: in the film. He says, you see his regrets and
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  Speaker 2: that he's finally trying to do the right thing. He
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  Speaker 2: just happens to steal from the wrong family. It reminded
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  Speaker 2: me of those film noirs, those classic characters who are
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  Speaker 2: very human, but they're doomed sometimes to do certain things.
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  Speaker 2: I thought there was a delicacy to it, and I
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  Speaker 2: wondered what it would take to sustain and find variation.
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  Speaker 2: The only pickpocket in New York has a wonderful supporting
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  Speaker 2: cast with Giancarlo Esposito playing a detective who's being sent
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  Speaker 2: out to pasture. Tatiana Maslini plays his estranged daughter, and
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  Speaker 2: they have a wonderful, excellent scene together. which I read,
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  Speaker 2: I think it was Totoro in some interview, but that
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  Speaker 2: she did all of her stuff in just one day.
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  Speaker 2: And there's also the wonderful Steve Buscemi. He plays a
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  Speaker 2: pawn store owner, so you immediately know he's going to
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  Speaker 2: kill it. As far as the New York City, I
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: have actually been there a few times. I've never really
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: kind of gone outside of kind of the heart of
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  Speaker 2: it where Times Square and everything is. I've been lucky
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  Speaker 2: enough to see a couple of Broadway shows out there.
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  Speaker 2: And the last time I went, we took a train
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  Speaker 2: from Jersey into New York and got out right at
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  Speaker 2: Madison Square Garden. And my wife had never been there before.
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  Speaker 2: And I don't know what I looked like when I was.
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  Speaker 2: I don't even know if I was a teenager yet.
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  Speaker 2: when I first went to New York. And I remember
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: seeing Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. But watching someone
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  Speaker 2: else experience that first sense of what New York City is,
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  Speaker 2: it looked like someone just came up to her and
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  Speaker 2: just slapped her in the face. We got out from
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  Speaker 2: the subway station, and I mean, as soon as you
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  Speaker 2: walk out into those streets, the hustle and bustle, the noise,
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  Speaker 2: the energy, it's a lot to take in, especially for
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  Speaker 2: us slow Southerners. So I love it. I can only
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  Speaker 2: probably hang around there for a day or two and
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  Speaker 2: then I'm ready to leave. But I always, I always
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  Speaker 2: am excited to go back. Always want to try and
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: go see a show out there, but there's, but there's
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  Speaker 2: so much of the city that I have not seen
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: that the only living pickpocket in New York, uh, goes
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  Speaker 2: all through. Um, The film is, it's a love letter
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  Speaker 2: to New York that just no longer exists. Sagan is
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  Speaker 2: the writer and director. He is from New York. And
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  Speaker 2: he did explore all of the city. He shot in
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  Speaker 2: all five boroughs. So it makes me want to go
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  Speaker 2: back and maybe hit some of these other boroughs that
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  Speaker 2: I haven't set foot on yet. So it's not really,
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  Speaker 2: it shouldn't surprise anybody that this film is very New York.
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  Speaker 2: But it also means the city is undeniably this vital
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  Speaker 2: character that is equally romantic, gritty, and kinetic. This is
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  Speaker 2: via IndieWire, saying that the only living pickpocket in New
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  Speaker 2: York added a secret extra shoot day to break some
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  Speaker 2: location rules. Now, this was also an interview that they
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  Speaker 2: did And it says writer, director Noah Sagan and producers
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  Speaker 2: Leopold Hughes and Katie McNeil talk about leaning into the
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  Speaker 2: city's energy to create a great New York movie in
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  Speaker 2: the tradition of Scorsese and Spike Lee. It says, ironically,
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  Speaker 2: shooting in the city was the first battle Sagan and
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: the producers had to fight. He said they had this
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: huge debate about rebates and maybe going to Serbia or
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: Bosnia or whatever, producer Leopold Hughes told IndieWire. I was
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  Speaker 2: really proud that we stuck to our guns on that
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  Speaker 2: and made them shoot in New York. I know movies
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  Speaker 2: can be crazy and they could film somewhere in Canada
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: and it's, but they say it's Michigan or something like that.
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  Speaker 2: But I really, truly, especially after seeing the film, cannot
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: imagine the only living pickpocket in New York not being
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: filmed in New York. It says, according to producer Katie McNeil,
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  Speaker 2: the key to shooting in New York is finding like-minded individuals,
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: both in terms of cast and crew, who understand what
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: it takes to get a movie made. She says, like,
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: instead of spending money on trailers that are going to
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: be so far from where we're shooting that you're going
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: to spend no time in them, let's get a little
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: scrappier and find ways to put more of that money
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: on the screen. The secret to working in New York
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: at this budget level is working with cast that are like,
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  Speaker 2: I'm okay. I'm buying into the idea that I don't
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  Speaker 2: need a fancy trailer. Sagan and his producers credited executive producer,
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  Speaker 2: Johnny Holland was settling the, with setting the tone. It's
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  Speaker 2: a very New York tone where we really went for
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  Speaker 2: forgiveness over permission. Sagan said, even to the degree of
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: saying to people, listen, thank you for agreeing to act
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: in this movie. You don't have a trailer. That's the
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: cost of doing a movie like this, and it's the
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: fun of doing a movie like this. The director added
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: that it's not enough to merely have a no-jerks policy
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: to get the job done in New York. You have
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: to have a we-are-having-a-great-time policy. Although the only living pickpocket
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: in New York technically had a 25-day shooting schedule, the
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: producers added a 26-day that yielded many of the film's
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: most quintessentially New York images. We knew there were certain
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: shots we wanted to get that were going to add
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: a lot of scale to the film, McNeil said, but
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: if we tried to get them early in our shoot,
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: we would run into the possibility that if we got
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: in trouble, all of our permits would be pulled, and
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: we wouldn't be able to do the other work that
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: we needed. The filmmakers therefore decided that if they were
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: going to break any rules, they would break them all
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  Speaker 2: on the last day, a plan that required cooperation from Totoro,
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  Speaker 2: who was more than game. You have a contract with
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  Speaker 2: an actor... with an actor a certain period of time,
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  Speaker 2: McNeil said, but as we were getting closer and closer
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  Speaker 2: to the end of the schedule, John said, if you
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: need more from me, I'm here, whatever you need. And
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: we were like, let's just spend a day running around
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: the New York subway system. I love this story and
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: it makes so much sense because I just feel like
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: that energy and, you know, throwing caution in the wind really, really,
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: really speaks to just how the film plays as you're
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: watching it. And like I said, just that energy that
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: is there. And obviously the characters, the performances bring, bring
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: a lot to that, but, but it's different when, when
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: your backdrop is New York city. So, um, it's very
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: rewarding to have all that. And the risks that they
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: take were very much, very much worth it. Beyond the
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: absorbing city and the gorgeous cinematography that illuminates it, the
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: jazzy score that's in it is quite seductive. It does
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: a terrific job of kind of flowing simultaneously with this
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: mood of the film. More so, Sagan's superb writing is
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: not only tight, but with wonderful quantities of elegance and grace.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: The only living pickpocket in New York is a small
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: film about big, poignant themes centering around life, loss, the
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: changes we try to survive, our failures, and love. It's
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: also simply just one stellar showcase for Mr. Totoro. And
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: just for the record, he wouldn't even have to even
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: attempt to pick my pockets. I would happily give him
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: my watch or my wallet or my diamond Himalaya Birkin bag.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: He could have it all. I wouldn't even question it.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: I would probably have a big old smile on my face.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: The only living pickpocket in New York gets a VixFlix
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: rating of three and a half out of five. It's
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: very much worth your time. Again, any fans of John Totoro, especially,
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: but also kind of those gritty type films that they
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: were kind of going for those throwback to seventies and eighties,
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: the Spike Lee Scorsese, it's all there and an hour
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: and 20 something minutes. It's a, um, it's so well done.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: So well executed. It makes me even like it more
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: after reading these stories I've shared with you of just
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: how they were able to get it all done. So, um,
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: Very much worth it. And then we're going to find
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: out if Totoro can get his first Oscar nomination for this.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: And if he does, it will be well-deserved. That's it
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: for this bonus episode of the VIX Flix podcast. Again,
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: read everything on NashvilleMovieDispatch.substack.com. And wherever you get your podcasts,
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: just search Nashville Movie Dispatch. Everything is on there. VIX Flix,
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: Cinema Chronicles, Movie Review Rewind. And just keep in mind,
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: if you haven't listened to the Cinema Chronicles yet of
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: this month that just came out this past Monday, shame
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: on you. But there is no more Cinema Chronicles for
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: the rest of this year. We'll pick it back up
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: in January. However, this is a bonus episode of the
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: VixFlix podcast. We still have the Laika one, the ones
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: that are behind Coraline, and the most recent, Wildwood, which
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: is one of the best films of the year, much
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: less bad. Best Animated Film of the Year. And we
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: will also have a VixFlix podcast in November and in December.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: So we'll still have those going out throughout the rest
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: of the year. So until next time, you stay classy, moviegoers.