Scott Carlin (Pete Davidson) is a young man who is lost in a world he doesn’t quite understand. He’s the self-professed “King of Staten Island”, based on his upbringing in the titular New York City borough, which he considers to be one of the most singularly uninteresting places in the country, yearning to get out, but never putting in any particular effort to do so. This becomes troublesome for his mother (Marisa Tomei), who has to grapple with an adult son who has suffered some kind of arrested development as a response to his father’s death while working as a fire-fighter years before. Scott has absolutely no direction, which makes the imminent major changes to his life all the more daunting. His sister (Maude Apatow) graduates from high school and sets off for college, leaving him with their mother, who does her best to help her son, but to no avail. She soon finds a kindred spirit in Ray (Bill Burr), a vulgar firefighter with a heart of gold, who tries to become a father-figure to the misguided Scott, who is understandably hostile to the idea of his mother starting a relationship with a man who is not only so much like his deceased father, but someone who is willing to take control, something Scott struggles to realize is not an attack on his situation, but rather the necessary impetus for him to get his life together. Over the course of a few months, Scott finds himself experiencing life in an entirely different way – he becomes sober to reality, emerging from the decrepit basement and seeing that the world out there might be intimidating, but conquering it is far from impossible. With the right mindset, and the ability to work on his own stubborn nature, Scott discovers that he might just make it after all – but not without a fight.

Judd Apatow is often considered to be a director who jump-starts the careers of many comedic actors who go on to have substantial careers in the entertainment industry. The likes of Steve Carell, Seth Rogen and Amy Schumer, despite having done considerable work in the industry prior to their collaborations, tend to be seen as indebted to Apatow in some way for giving depth to their career, if not having launched them in some way. Pete Davidson has now been added to the roster of performers who have been taken under the director’s wing and given a showcase for his talents, those that don’t normally come through when he’s performing on Saturday Night Live or doing stand-up comedy. Their collaboration bore The King of Staten Island, a quirky coming-of-age comedy that has moments of genuine brilliance, which unfortunately tend to occur between some trite, over-sentimental emotional content that might not always work, but does seem to play a part in fashioning what is yet another star vehicle facilitated by Apatow, who has appeared to find his niche of attempting to broaden the horizon of young comics and give them platforms than he is making a particularly compelling work that doesn’t rely on the charms of its lead to carry itself. However, this doesn’t suggest that The King of Staten Island is in any way a bad film – flaws aside, it is quintessentially the work of Apatow, who has developed a distinctive style, perhaps not visually but in terms of the narrative (and the execution of it), and is certainly not without its beguiling charms, which ultimately go towards constructing this as something more than a starring vehicle for its enigmatic lead, gradually becoming something more than what it presents itself to be at the outset.

Always funny, occasionally genuine in its heartfulness, The King of Staten Island works on the premise that the audience is either composed of those who are already fans of its leading star or willing to lend 137 minutes to hopefully become one. The film, like many of the director’s work, doesn’t get off to a particularly good start, with the entire first act being a jumble of expositionary ideas that intend to establish entires backstories for each of its myriad of characters, while still attempting to be insightful and funny at the same time, which makes it an unnecessarily overstuffed piece that appears to be just as aimless as its protagonist. However, once the film finds its niche, it becomes quite a charming affair, an endearing comedy that presents itself as along the same lines as many of the great coming-of-age films, separated by the fact that it’s situated in only a vaguely familiar location, which it seems to flaunt quite proudly (no doubt the result of Davidson insisting on shining a light on his hometown), and about someone who isn’t necessarily young enough to have what is essentially a teenage comedy centred around him, but rather caught between adulthood and adolescence, which is the crutch that most of the story tends to be intent on exploring. There are many moving parts to The King of Staten Island – and there is certainly a lot of this film to get through, which can create quite an unsettling pace, since it is already brimming with ideas, making the running time even more daunting. However, this is part-and-parcel of an Apatow film, with the countless narrative threads being woven throughout the story, made as comedic spectacles in the vein of the old epics, where entire journeys were undertaken in the confines of a lengthy but manageable running time. The question that undoubtedly needs to be posed is whether it was all worth it, and after sitting through this film, the answer is – probably.

Designed to showcase Pete Davidson, The King of Staten Island is at least worth a look based entirely on its intention to give him the platform he deserves. Representative of a very specific niche of comedic actors, who are more intent on bringing their own comic routine to the screen than they are to playing characters, Davidson has yet to abandon the carefully-constructed persona that has been employed in nearly every bit of work he’s done over the past few years. Normally playing the same kind of character – a wise-cracking slacker who is charming in spite of his enormous flaws – Davidson has captivated the same amount of viewers as he has bewildered, so it’s hardly surprising that this film in particular would be quite polarizing in theory. It’s only made more notable by the fact that this is essentially a film about Davidson, who doesn’t do much other than playing a character with a different name. So much of the film is entrenched in the actor’s own experiences, it’s difficult to know where Davidson ends and the character begins. However, despite these factors that would normally work against a film, The King of Staten Island is actually quite charming, all due to Davidson’s commitment to the role. He isn’t the strongest dramatic actor, but the film overcomes this by allowing the more serious subject matter to occur around him, creating an unusual imbalance between comedy and drama that somehow manages to work. Davidson is very funny, and even though his humour may not be palatable to many, with his distinctly millennial, self-deprecating sensibilities being bewildering to those looking for something a bit more conventional, it works in the context of the film. It also helps that The King of Staten Island is armed with a terrific supporting cast, including wonderful work by Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Steve Buscemi and Maude Apatow, who rises above the familial connection and delivers a fantastic performance. The entire cast of this film is operating on all cylinders, which makes the final product quite special.

The King of Staten Island doesn’t always work, but when it does, it can be very effective. Ultimately, this is an entire season of a television show condensed into one film, which can inarguably make it something of a chore to sit through, as there’s far too much going on. However, if we look beneath the different plot machinations, and focus on what the film intends to say, we can uncover exactly what it is that makes this such a special piece. Constructed from the fragments of the memories of its enigmatic but incredibly likeable star, the film sees Apatow building a thoroughly charming film from a strong foundation, composed of serious subject matter which are not normally found in comedies of this nature. The King of Staten Island is a film that looks frankly at issues of death, broken relationships and mental health. The character of Scott is a troubled young man who is doing his best to hold it all together, and the film follows his journey. We can comment on how effectively it does this, especially considering how the story isn’t quite sure whether to show him as a deeply fragmented young man, or just an arrogant, aimless youth who would prefer to live the life of a slacker. While a more logical film may have reconciled the two points, The King of Staten Island isn’t quite there in terms of characterization, and while it may be only a stone’s throw away from resorting to mere caricature, it does manage to be quite compelling in its own unique way. The film does struggle to stay afloat at some points, and considering the most egregious cases of it being close to falling apart being at the outset, it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the story – but it comes back, stronger than ever and delivers a knockout series of scenes as it immerses itself deeper into the narrative. The problem is that the moments between them don’t contribute nearly as much as this film would like to believe they do. It doesn’t ruin the film but does keep it away from greatness far too often.

Ultimately, The King of Staten Island is a solid film. It certainly may have a problem with the length, which isn’t ever justified, especially considering how there are innumerable scenes that don’t contribute much, with entire sub-plots occurring throughout the film that could have easily been elided altogether. However, the film does manage to come together quite beautifully, and whether depending on the wonderful leading performance from Pete Davidson (who may need to work on his range if he wants to have a career as a semi-serious actor because there are only so many coming-of-age comedies about suburban slackers with hearts of gold that one can make), or a terrific supporting cast, the film has an abundance of heart and a wealth of soulful dedication to its central premise to compensate for the narrative shortcomings. It is far from Apatow’s finest work, with the tonal imbalance, oversaturation of plot detail and inconsistencies in how it approaches some of the more serious themes being quite distracting, but not enough to render this film completely devoid of charm. There’s a lovable quality to The King of Staten Island that makes it a far better achievement than it appeared to be at the outset. It’s a slight but effective work that finds humour in a bad situation and accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do, making it a solid and worthwhile effort at the very least, which is more than enough for a film that promises as little, and delivers as much, as this ultimately did.