The King of Staten Island Grows Up

“You’re dad was a hero, and heroes are necessary and they should be allowed

to have families.”

Pete Davidson stars in his semi-biographical tale of a late twenties slacker still living at home and with no ambition to change that. Pete plays Scott, who like Pete grew up in Staten Island still struggling to come to peace with the loss of his firefighter father. Scott is an insufferable jerk throwing a constant pity party. It’s not so easy to like such a guy. The film seems to ask; what’s not to like about that?

In real life, Pete Davidson’s father was a first-response firefighter during the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center. For whatever reasons, Davidson and director Judd Apatow (along with Dave Sirus) opted to change that scenario for the fictionalized Scott. This was probably a mistake. It probably would have gone a long way in helping the audience understand why so many people like this jerk, if the fictionalized father of Scott also died heroically on 9-11. Not because his father died during the rescue attempts on 9-11 instead of some other rescue attempt.

Yet, very much because his father died during the 9-11 rescue attempt. Whether it was the World Trade Center, or an apartment building in Staten Island where Scott’s father died is not the thing. The thing is, because Davidson’s father died in the WTC attempting to rescue victims of 9-11, his father became a national hero. While Scott Matthew Davidson (Pete’s father) may not have become a household name, he is a national hero and the specter of that alone has got to be jarring for a young boy.

Pete Davidson, in real life, has his father’s badge number tattooed his arm. Scott, who is not a rising comic but instead a wannabe tattoo artist doesn’t seem to have this tattoo. It appears as if Scott doesn’t recognize his dead father as a hero, and it is clear that he see’s him as a reckless fool who abandoned his family. The script seems to want to revel in Scott’s numerous contradictions but can’t see the value in a Scott who both has the badge number of his dead father tattooed on his arm, and also refuses to see his father as a hero.

Would this contradiction make Scott more likable? As it is, Davidson does a good job in pulling the likability off. Behind those slacker eyes is the soul of a man who doesn’t like who he is. That helps in making him likable, but as far as the script is concerned, it is the other characters in this story that make Scott likable. He’s not all that likable but his family loves him, his friends like him and people that meet him (not all but some) like him.

Early on we see Scott with his friends smoking pot down his mom’s basement while watching The Purge. One of the girls, Tara (Carly Aquilino) discovers that Scott’s father is dead. As she apologizes for not knowing the tone of the scene remains lighthearted until she asks Scott how his father died. Immediately the rest of Scott’s friends admonish her for asking this making clear it’s not discussed among them. This is immediately followed up by a knock-knock joke from Oscar (Ricky Velez).

Oscar: Knock-knock.

Scott: Who’s there?

Oscar: Not your dad.

The basement erupts with laughter and the tone is set. The contradictions of Scott Carlin abound. From that scene he sneaks off with Kelsey (Bel Powely) for some afternoon delight but the moment she begins pushing for something more tangible than sex, Scott is ready to end the relationship. He would end this relationship to save it. It turns out Scott and Kelsey are childhood friends. What’s not to like about that?

Later, while Scott and the boys are hanging out – actually trespassing – in an abandoned lot, he tries to get one of his friends to let him use their body to make another tattoo. As the camera settles in on his friends tattoo’s done by Scott we get the picture. Scott needs practice. Then a young boy no older than ten years old joins them and announces he wants a tattoo.

Scott’s more than willing to give the kid a tattoo despite his friend Igor (Moises Arias) admonitions. Once the needle actually punctures the kids skin he suddenly realizes he doesn’t want the tattoo and runs away leaving a link of ink scrawled along his bicep. There is seemingly no remorse at all for his actions and Igor is clearly upset by what Scott has done. What’s not to like about that?

This brings the kid’s (Harold) into play. Ray, Harold’s father (Bill Burr) shows up at Scott’s mother’s house (Marissa Tomei) demanding compensation for the cost of removing the botched tattoo from