"He's a ubiquitous face, showing up regularly in all sorts of supporting parts (big ones as well as glorified cameos), but he so rarely gets the chance to carry a feature. In The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, which world premiered at Sundance and is now playing at the Berlin Film Festival, he does exactly that, holding our attention with those sad, watchful eyes and his lanky determination."
"The movie is all about old-timers, and it's filled with real old-timers. Turturro plays Harry, an expert veteran pickpocket who makes a decent living stealing people's bags and wallets; Steve Buscemi plays Ben, the pawnshop owner who serves as his fence; and Giancarlo Esposito is Warren, the veteran detective who spent many years pursuing guys like Harry but now just sees him as an informal associate, someone who can look at a stack of mug shots and tell you exactly who everyone is."
"It opens with a youngish corporate type preparing for his day, picking out his tie, putting on his watch and suit, going into the subway, and then spending his day at the office in meetings ... only to discover during an expensive-looking lunch gathering that his wallet has vanished. Ding - cut to Harry at a diner counter, looking through the guy's wallet and discovering, of course, that the man has no cash in there."
John Turturro stars as Harry, an expert veteran pickpocket whose weary, watchful presence anchors a modest, nostalgic drama set in a vanishing New York. The film foregrounds older characters: Steve Buscemi plays Ben, the pawnshop owner and fence, while Giancarlo Esposito plays Warren, a detective who now treats Harry as an informal associate. The tone is playful and wistful, opening on a corporate man's missing wallet and revealing a cashless, digital reality. Harry avoids heavy crime by rule but inadvertently becomes entangled in a larger job after robbing a man in a vintage car. The film premiered at Sundance and is playing at the Berlin Film Festival.
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