The Only Living Pickpocket in New York (A PopEntertainment.com Movie Review)
THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK (2026)
Starring John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, Will Price, Tatiana Maslany, Steve Buscemi, Victoria Moroles, Jamie Lee Curtis, Lori Tan Chinn, Kelvin Han Yee, Karina Arroyave, John Gallagher Jr., Jack Mulhern, Michael Hsu Rosen, Aida Turturro, Mark Cayne, Delaney Grace Coyle, Rob Brown, Ethan Herschenfeld, Bill Sage, Rafael Silva and Adam Horovitz.
Screenplay by Noah Segan.
Directed by Noah Segan.
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. 88 minutes. Rated R.
Screened at the 2026 Philadelphia Film Festival.
There are certain professions which have become outdated in the modern world. For example, my grandfather bought a house, raised four children, put them through college and was able to summer down the shore, all from the profits from his Philadelphia shoe repair shop. When was the last time you saw a shoe repair shop? Or a typewriter store? Or even a video rental place? When was the last time you saw a telephone operator? Or a milkman?
I’d never really thought about it before, but this same kind of obscurity must have also settled into criminal ventures. Like, there are no more pay phones, so no one can break into their coin boxes, can they? With modern banking and computers, who could even get away with check kiting anymore? Can you hotwire a modern car with all the computer gadgetry?
What about pickpockets? No one really carries cash anymore. Credit cards and cell phones are difficult to flip quickly. Where is the profit? What’s the point?
Yet, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York puts us in the shoes of one of those remaining old-timers. And for the record, the title is a slight exaggeration. This film alone shows at least two pickpockets, and there are undoubtedly others lingering unnoticed in the city’s crowded streets, shops and subways.
“Once I discovered this character, this guy Harry that John Turturro plays, I knew it was a guy caught between two worlds,” writer-director Noah Segan recently told me on the red carpet at the Philadelphia Film Festival. “That's what the movie was about. That's what the character was about. How do you illustrate that?”
That displacement is what gives The Only Living Pickpocket in New York its quirky and unforgettable vibe. The film throws old-school New York crime into a head-on collision with the modern world. And you know what they say about an immovable object meeting an irresistible force. Something has to give.
Despite being a rather handsy guy, Harry is actually a bit of an old-school gentleman. He believes that there are rules – even in stealing – and he acts accordingly. One of his best friends is an aging cop (Giancarlo Esposito), he treats his fence (Steve Buscemi) like family, and he only steals to care for his beloved-but-terminally ill wife (Karina Arroyave) who is in a near catatonic state in a local health facility (with occasional trips home to their rather nice Bronx apartment.)
Harry knows and cares nothing about modern crime. He doesn’t do drugs or want to be involved with them. He has little to no idea how crypto works (or even how computers work), so when he jacks a gym bag from a vintage muscle car in a local parking lot, he has no idea what he has when he finds a computer thumb drive and a super-expensive watch. However, those items put him in the crosshairs for the goofy young scion of a local crime factory and his tough buddies.
That is pretty much what Pickpocket is about, a man trying to get out of a mess he had no idea he was making, trying to fix the issue while also protecting those most important to him and even reaching out to try to make amends with his long-estranged daughter. All the while, the spoiled and slightly dumb wannabe gangsters create a wave of violence and destruction trying to track down the man who had the audacity to steal their property.
There is even a surprisingly genteel scene in which Harry sits down with the mob boss (Jamie Lee Curtis), who like him is more comfortable with old criminal values and actually likes and relates to Harry, even as they both know the meeting can only end in one way.
It is nice to see Turturro getting the chance to play such a substantial role again, and he nails it. His Harry is a very internalized character who keeps much of what he is thinking close to the vest – and Turturro’s subtle charms in the role keep the crowd on his side even when he is straying into dangerous territory.
Turturro has a nice, relaxed connection with his old Do the Right Thing co-star Esposito (although their current character dynamics couldn’t be more distant than from their roles in the classic film). Buscemi is always welcome with his craggy hangdog charm as the old friend and ally who will do anything for Harry – to a certain extent.
Tatiana Maslany has a showstopping short turn as Harry’s bitter daughter. Curtis is surprisingly Zen, and yet still threatening as the crime family leader and Will Price is goofy and yet threatening as the young hood.
Director Segan shows a good instinct for the story, a film in which the five boroughs of New York also function as a character. Filmed entirely on location, the film gained an entirely bustling, exciting, gritty dimension from the city itself.
“Being able to scout New York, you're never wanting for anything,” Segan said. “You can conjure up whatever's in your mind's eye. If you're a New Yorker – which I am, and a lot of people working the movie were – you find yourself trading your version of New York with someone else's. One block for another. It becomes a real potpourri, which is an interesting word to use for New York…. It's… a beautiful town, and you get to really create a variety when you're working with people.”
Much like the city itself, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York is a melting pot. Comedy, drama, action, surprisingly tender character study, even a travelogue for the city that never sleeps – they all come together and succeed in this well… potpourri… of intriguing storytelling. Harry may have been a small-time hustler, but his movie is definitely a success.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2026 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 28, 2026.
Comments