John Turturro hits the streets of New York in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, a new film exploring the life of an aging thief navigating a city increasingly shaped by digital payments and changing neighborhoods.
Written and directed by Noah Segan, the film opens in select theaters Friday, Oct. 23.
Turturro, 69, grew up in Hollis, Queens and has lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn, since 1988, according to 2 News. His decades-long connection to New York has informed a career built around distinctive characters drawn from everyday encounters on subway trains, sidewalks and neighborhood streets.
In the new film, he plays Harry Lehman, a pickpocket whose traditional skills face diminishing relevance in a cashless economy.
“The whole skill of it is that the person doesn’t know,” Turturro says of pickpockets. “I used to make a list of everything I had in common and everything I didn’t have in common with a character. A lot of things resonated with me. People don’t look at you anymore.”
The production also features Steve Buscemi as a pawnshop owner and Giancarlo Esposito as a police detective. Their performances bring together three established actors whose work has helped shape screen portrayals of New York and its varied communities.
The film offers a reflection on the city's changing identity, including the disappearance of familiar street characters and the pressures of rising costs and technological change. For Brooklyn audiences, Turturro's enduring connection to Park Slope provides a local link to a broader story about urban life, community and the people who give neighborhoods their character.
Filming extended to areas beyond Coney Island, allowing the production to capture parts of the city less frequently represented in familiar screen portrayals. The project also marks another significant role for Turturro, whose credits include "Do the Right Thing" and "The Big Lebowski."
His performance has generated early Oscar speculation following a screening at the New York Film Festival.
