The Only Living Pickpocket in New York (United States, 2026)

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York features a career-best performance from John Turturro and, in a way, that is enough to make the movie work as a whole. Turturro's Harry feels lived-in, a has-been who never really was – a petty criminal who lost his family to a gambling habit and continues to struggle to make ends meet, even though he knows he is fighting a losing battle. It is an ode to those who live on the margins of society and a portrait of the parts of New York that Woody Allen's rose-colored lenses never captured. Unfortunately, the storyline is undercooked. Where many of today's movies overstay their welcome, this one could have benefited from at least another half-hour. At times, the film feels like the CliffsNotes version of a deeper, more compelling tale.

Moody and introspective, Noah Segan's character study of Harry Lehman is mostly on-target. His camera and Turturro's expressions say more than dialogue and exposition ever could. Still, several threads beg for exploration. The two best dynamics – Harry's fractured bond with his estranged daughter, Kelly (Tatiana Maslany), and his brief mentoring of a young apprentice, Billy (Mark Cayne) – wither on the vine from limited screen time. Likewise, his devotion to his disabled wife, Rosie (Karina Arroyave), needs a flashback or two to anchor their history.

The plot is straightforward, with thriller elements that remain low-key. We meet Harry when he brings items from his latest score to Ben (Steve Buscemi), his longtime fence and friend. After showing the thief's tenderness with his catatonic wife, the film establishes his financial bind: he needs cash to cover her care and pay the rent. Going out for a night job, he spots an ideal mark in Dylan (Will Price), an arrogant punk carrying a wallet stuffed with $100 bills. Along with the money, Harry lifts a USB drive whose purpose baffles him. He has chosen the wrong victim. Dylan's grandmother, Moira (Jamie Lee Curtis), is a crime boss, and it does not take the young man long to identify and locate the culprit. He offers an ultimatum: retrieve the stolen drive – which has already been passed along – or say a permanent goodbye to Rosie.

Segan keeps the temperature down as Harry retraces the chain of custody from one contact to the next. Because the quest for the missing device is essentially an excuse for the protagonist to make the rounds, the thinness of those secondary subplots becomes harder to ignore. His meeting with Kelly carries decades of unspoken regret, and Turturro and Maslany convey a lifetime of hurt in just a few minutes, which makes it frustrating when the narrative moves on so quickly. The same applies to Harry's scenes with Billy. Watching an aging craftsman pass along the mechanics of a dying trade to a kid on the street has real promise, yet their interaction ends almost as soon as it starts.

What the film lacks in narrative depth, it makes up for in atmosphere. Working with cinematographer Sam Levy and composer Gary Lionelli, Segan infuses the drama with a quiet melancholia. That union of image and sound reaches its peak during the end credits, which play over an unbroken shot of the Manhattan skyline anchored by One World Trade Center. Beginning in daylight and holding steady as dusk settles into night, the sequence serves as a fitting visual coda for a story about the passage of time and a city that keeps changing while leaving men like Harry in the dark.

Although this is Turturro's showcase, Segan surrounds the veteran actor with familiar faces: Giancarlo Esposito as Detective Allan Warren, a cop who once pursued Harry but now feels just as obsolete; Buscemi as his most reliable confidant; Maslany, whose single appearance is the emotional highlight; and Curtis as another relic from a bygone era.

Ultimately, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York is sustained by its leading man. Even when the screenplay leaves supporting players shortchanged and abbreviates its central crisis, Turturro never hits a false note.

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York (United States, 2026)