The Only Living Pickpocket
in New York

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York 🗽(2026)

This year, I’ve made a point of not waiting around for new films to potentially be great, but instead seeking out movies from the past that I might enjoy, missed out on, or didn’t even know existed.

Somewhere along that journey, I accidentally stumbled into a New York crime trilogy.

Two of those films I watched in the past month were State of Grace (1990) and Rounders (1998). And what were the two things they had in common? New York City and John Turturro. I had no idea Turturro was such a quintessential New York figure, but after watching those two films, followed by THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK, it’s undeniable.

Here, Turturro plays a shifty, sticky-fingered pickpocket who works every oblivious New Yorker he comes across, lifting whatever he can get his hands on before taking his haul to a local pawnshop owner (Steve Buscemi). Yeah, I know—what an asshole, but it’s how he makes ends meet and supports his ailing wife.

Then on one night he thinks he’s caught a big fish, but ends up in over his head, caught between the old-school craft of crime and a new generation of tech-savvy youngsters who will do whatever it takes to get back what’s been taken from them. From there, our pickpocket crisscrosses the city in search of what he sold, hoping to make things right for the people he loves while coming to terms with the life he’s lived.

From the grimy, gutter-level chaos of Uncut Gems (2019), to the smooth, class-crossing sophistication of Tuner (2025), and now the slick, quick-fingered world of THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK, these are three films cut from the same crime cloth.

Each one feels as New York as New York gets.

If Uncut Gems is about the highs and lows of the hustle, and Tuner is about finding opportunity in unexpected places, THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK feels like the twilight of that same world. It's about an old-school crook trying to navigate a city that's changed around him, where the tricks he's spent a lifetime perfecting are becoming relics of another time. But where the other two had me completely wrapped up in their respective rhythms, this one felt comparatively muted. TUNER was like New York coffee-shop jazz, while UNCUT GEMS had that relentless, can't-look-away buzz.

This movie is more like a breezy, sunny autumn afternoon. Pleasant enough while you're in it, but it comes and goes without leaving much of an impression. It’s the similar feeling of someone being objectively attractive and still not your type. And THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK’s portrait of a street-level crook with a code of honour never quite landed for me either. I could appreciate the rhythm and the charm, but I struggled to fully buy into the character and his journey.

What did land was the ending, which ties everything together with a quiet, almost make-peace-with-it-all kind of bow. There's also a surprising cameo that I genuinely don't think anyone will see coming. 

This actually reminded me a lot of New York City street chess. I occasionally fall down YouTube rabbit holes watching grandmasters and other high-level chess players get beaten by the new generation of chess wizardry. You can practically see the shell-shocked look on their faces when they realize they've been duped, glancing around at the surrounding cityscape as if trying to figure out where it all went wrong after all these years.

In that same vein, this feels like a retirement film.

It's ultimately a story about a man who's spent his life scraping by, making ends meet, and taking whatever life throws his way. He's not necessarily looking for one last big score so much as an opportunity to take stock of the life he's lived and find a little peace with it. And maybe that's exactly what this movie is: less concerned with the hustle and bustle of New York and more interested in the people on the verge of being left behind by it, still doing their best to keep pace with a rat race that may have already moved on without them. 

Enjoy!

6.95/10 🍿 🎥

Runtime: 1hr28mins

Where: Now Playing In Theatres

The Richmond Reviewer The Only Living Pickpocket in New York Review - November 3rd, 2026.