The King Of Staten Island

The 40 Year Old Virgin -133

Knocked Up - 129

Funny People - 146

This Is 40 - 133

Trainwreck - 125

The King Of Staten Island - 136

These aren't scores. These are the running times of the films Judd Apatow has directed. The man needs an editor like Thelma Schoonmaker and he needs her now. Comedies never need to be this long. This is the hill I'm choosing to die on.

Staten Island. The forgotten of the 5 boroughs. A stone's throw from Manhattan and yet a million miles away. A rural vibe with the World Trade Centre in the background. Slap bang in the middle is Scott Carlin (Pete Davidson). 24 years old and permanently stoned. Life's been tough since his father died 17 years before and Scott's using his death as an excuse to get ripped ever since. He's living with his mother Margie (Marisa Tomei) and when his sister Claire (Maude Apatow) goes to college Margie realises things have got to change. Scott's one interest is tattoo's and this brings a firefighter called Ray (Bill Burr rocking a ronnie a walrus would be proud of) into their lives. 2020 is the year things are going to get different in the Carlin household.

The King Of Staten Island is at least half an hour too long. Judd Apatow indulges in his worst tendencies as scenes drag on far beyond interest, supporting characters are introduced by the bucketload and plotlines arrive out of the blue late in the day and yet....you can't help but like it because there's so much to like in between the filler. A heartfelt tale of a family coping with loss (Based on Davidson's own life). A lead who starts off annoying but who gets under your skin imperceptibly. Marisa Tomei, who's always brilliant at portraying fragility and a genuinely surprising and layered turn from Bill Burr who massively tones down the angry schtick he's built a stand up career around. Now if only Apatow could let these three carry the story and prune away everything else. There's so much of it that's unnecessary as you'll see when you watch.

Early in his career Apatow produced some TV brilliance like The Larry Sanders Show, Freaks And Geeks, and Undeclared. Shows with large ensemble casts telling sprawling stories and sometimes watching his films you get the feeling he's trying to return to that way of storytelling but it's just not possible in the medium of film. There's just too much packed in here, storywise and characters. It feels messy and bloated and brilliant actors like Steve Buscemi (playing Ray's fire chief) feel totally underused. He gets a great barroom scene (and Burr gets the line of the movie during it) but you get the feeling the film could have been better had it got shot of some of the longeurs with Scott and his friends and brought Buscemi into play earlier. Friends who btw more or less vanish anyway when the movie adds in a totally unnecessary criminal detour at the midpoint.

Davidson's Scott is a hard one to warm to, an unlikeable waster who isn't half as funny as he thinks he is but a combination of his gangly physicality and knowledge of his real life issues with mental health will chip away at your resolve and eventually, against all the odds you'll find yourself rooting for him as he starts to blossom and dig himself out of the hole he's been in for years. It's just a pity it takes so fucking long to happen. Fingers crossed for a 90 minute director's cut.

The Staten Island tourist board aren't going to love this one but there's plenty here to keep you entertained, just make sure you have on something comfortable. Available to stream on google movies now.