‘The Only Living Pickpocket in New York’ Review: John Turturro Gives a Layered Performance in Superbly Mounted Character Study
There’s a scene in Noah Segan’s The Only Living Pickpocket in New York that perfectly captures the layers of John Turturro’s slick, calculating street thief, Harry Lehman. It might be the best demonstration of the veteran actor’s skills as someone who has never gotten the flowers he’s always deserved.
The heartbreaking story in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
Turturro’s Lehman dances to Odyssey’s “Native New Yorker” in front of his ailing wife, Rosie (Karina Arroyave), to cheer her (and himself) up during trying times. The scene is brief and seemingly innocuous. Yet, Turturro’s face and body language tell us so much about a man who has lived a life full of regrets and soon knows that the bad decisions he’s made will eventually catch up to him.
Segan’s camera lightly moves as it follows him dancing around his cramped apartment. He can’t even manage a smile in front of his wife, but he desperately wants her to. Unfortunately, she’s catatonic and can’t utter a word.
This devastates Harry, but he soldiers on for her and tries to make as much money as he can by pickpocketing vulnerable targets and selling off valuable pieces to his “business partner”/friend Ben (Steve Buscemi) at a pawn shop.
He knows how to pickpocket swiftly and effectively but fails to assess the presence of security cameras after stealing from Dylan (Will Price), a young adult with close connections to a powerful crime family. Harry is tracked back to his apartment, and the safety of his wife is threatened.
Harry stole a valuable cryptocurrency USB card from Dylan, and he wants it back. By doing so, he’s also signed his death warrant and will be executed by the family following the successful return of the object, no matter what happens.
We then observe a regretful man attempting to atone for his sins in a surprisingly moving and aesthetically invigorating crime thriller that perfectly showcases why Turturro has always been—and will always be—one of Hollywood’s most exciting raw talents.
John Turturro is at the center of an incredibly moving character study
What follows is a potent mixture of the calculated thriller and layered character study of Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket, but without the social alienation (and voiceover narration) of its protagonist.
Harry has already alienated most of the personal relationships he should, theoretically, care about most. His bridges have already been burned, we’ll soon understand, by a crippling gambling addiction and many run-ins with the law, notably Detective Allan Warren (Giancarlo Esposito).
We understand Harry’s life has not been easy but won’t get to see why that is until much later in the film. Harry opens himself up in ways he has simply never done since his daughter Kelly (Tatiana Maslany) shut him out of his life. That scene perfectly encapsulates who Harry is: a man trying to escape the sins of his life but never fully reckoning with them.
Each gesture he makes as a pickpocket brings him closer to Hell because he just can’t help himself. It’s the only thing he knows how to do. It’s currently the only endeavor that allows him to get money as fast as possible to support his wife within a system that has constantly devalued healthcare as a basic human right.
The subtext is so rich one might not even realize what Segan is commenting on, as he only shows us parts of his life during the film’s brisk 88-minute runtime. The aforementioned dance scene, while incredibly brief, is probably the most important sequence that lets us understand who Harry Lehman is beyond a life wasted on petty theft and burning bridges.
He wants to repair the fractures he personally caused, but it’s hard to do so when the person closest to you can’t talk. Moreover, the person you once loved won’t talk to you and pretends you’re a salesman in front of her husband and child. It’s a heartbreaking character study that never lets Harry live the life he deserves, especially as he nears death’s door.
Throughout The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, cinematographer Sam Levy frames Harry with such sadness that everything he feels pierces our souls. It also helps that John Turturro’s performance is full of vulnerability and three-dimensionality, and each small facial gesture feels like the culmination of a life he never fully enjoyed, despite some highs along the way.
The way he walks. The way he talks. The way he looks at someone. He represents a litany of anguish that sadly won’t dissipate even when he ultimately kicks the bucket, which will arrive much sooner than he anticipated. The conversation he has with an unnamed character, best revealed by watching the film, is possibly the most emotionally impactful he’s ever had.
That scene is sadly hampered by an actor who doesn’t have the emotional gravitas to question Harry thoughtfully, but John Turturro’s performance is so incredible that we don’t care about such a cheaply constructed cameo. This is an actor who has never missed when he is on screen (despite middling directorial efforts) and has sadly fallen by the wayside, for reasons I can’t possibly explain.
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York final thoughts
John Turturro has always put in the work and given some of the most memorable (and underappreciated) performances, whether collaborating with Spike Lee, the Coens, or even Michael Bay.
It’s high time the public consciousness finally rewards him with the adulation he’s always deserved, whether you were introduced to him in Lee’s Do the Right Thing and beyond. If there’s one actor who deserves an Oscar this year, don’t look any further.
- Film Title: The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
- Director: Noah Segan
- Writer: Noah Segan
- Cast: John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, Giancarlo Esposito, Will Price, Tatiana Maslany
- Genre(s): Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Rated: R
- Running Time: 88 minutes
- Theatrical Release Date: October 30, 2026 (US), October 23, 2026 (Canada, limited)
- Reviewer’s Score: 4 out of 5 stars
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