Harry (John Turturro) is truly of another time and era — an “oldhead,” by his words. He likes a good vinyl record, and by his demeanor, he’s s the guy you might notice in the subway who calls back to New York of old: cheaper rent and not-so-sophisticated crime. He’s mastered the art of not looking conspicuous: a tight haircut and goatee, greyed by time, and a sharp-looking coat. In the landscape where artificial intelligence can mimic your voice to scam someone and crypto can shield monetary exchanges for nefarious reasons, Harry is a throwback in another way.
In writer/director Noah Segan’s “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,” he does exactly that. Harry spends most of his day perusing the subway and streets, lifting wallets, watches, and other valuables to take to his longtime pawn-shop-owner buddy Ben (Steve Buscemi). Long gone are the days of flashy Rolexes and cash on hand; Harry doesn’t quite know what to do with the iPhones he takes. Hell, he still uses payphones. To that token, Ben doesn’t either. Within the shop, he has a desktop computer that doesn’t work because the updates are too old. It’s refreshing to see Ben and Harry haggle over the worth of a stolen trinket; a throwback to a time when everything felt personal.
“The Only Living Pickpocket In New York” / Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Classics
But Segan’s character study and ode to the changing of America’s largest city is not so much concerned with pitting its eras against one another. Rather, “The Only Living Pickpocket” uses Harry’s intuition and cleverness to tell a dualistic story of persistence against the changing times and, eventually, atonement for all the wrongs you’ve done. Harry is extremely street-smart and intuitive, but carries the weight of a rough upbringing, a rap sheet to match, and the transgressions of being a father who wasn’t prepared, like a heavy blanket. A brief conversation with Detective Allan Warren (Giancarlo Esposito) in a subway car shows that they share mutual respect and a shared trepidation at knowing they are on opposing sides of the social order.
Harry lives within a Robin Hood-esque silent code. He’s extremely generous when it comes to tipping and paying people for things he needs — almost as if it’s a deposit to pay down a karmic debt. At the end of the day, he spends most of his time caring for and listening to vinyl records with his wife, Rosie (Karina Arroyave), who is bedridden due to an unknown illness.
But petty crime and a lack of knowledge of the modern world eventually catch up to our protagonist. One night, he makes the mistake of robbing a young mobster and crypto bro, Dylan (Will Price). The irony here is that Harry is extremely careful about leaving a trail of his misdeeds, but modern-day surveillance methods are what eventually trip him up. You can try to be incognito, but cameras on every street corner and location pings eventually come for all of us. Unlucky for Turturro’s character, Dylan is highly connected to people who could easily hurt those closest to Harry.
“The Only Living Pickpocket In New York” / Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Classics
The film then shifts gears to a time trial in which a drive must be recovered within a set time. It’s fun to see Turturro try to track down a small, metallic drive using old-school tactics and know-how. But the film slows into a contemplative mode, with a man looking back on his life and wanting to rectify things he’s not proud of. Turturro is able to display his trademark charisma in this role, but brings it down to an air of melancholy, acceptance, and regret towards the third act. Harry visits his long-estranged daughter, Kelly (Tatiana Maslany), and both actors convey a lifetime of pain and anger effectively in a five-minute span. Segan structures the film so that the backstory is conveyed through everyday interactions at a steady pace, against the backdrop of New York landmarks that are almost alien to Harry and those closest to him.
At the beginning of “The Only Living Pickpocket,” LCD Soundsystem’s “New York, I Love You, but You’re Bringing Me Down” plays, and the line “New York, you’re safer, and you’re wasting my time / ‘Our records all show you were filthy but fine” is present in the DNA of this particular film. Harry is an old-time trickster in a city that is out of step with the way new-age marauders work. Yet one of Segan’s last plot notes, about his knowledge being passed down to a fraudster-in-training, is almost poetic. Why can’t Harry stop and drift into the sunset with something that’s more honorable? It’s the same way we choose to use pen and paper rather than digital notes; comfort equals effectiveness.
This film is an ode to the Harrys of the world, much as we romanticize the golden age of newspapers and cassette tapes. Their heyday might be behind them, but they’re never really gone.
“The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” was reviewed at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival.”
The film is scheduled for a limited theatrical release in Los Angeles and New York City on October 16, 2026, expanding nationwide a week later on October 23 by Sony Pictures Classics.
