Harry Lehman (John Turturro) rides the subway back to the Bronx when Detective Warren (Giancarlo Esposito) sits beside him. “Seen him recently,” Warren asks, and Harry says no, keeping his secrets and his old habits to himself. Harry, the titular antihero in Noah Segan’s The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, finds himself a mark. That mark happens to be Dylan (Will Price), who turns out to be a scion of a crime family. One of the things Harry stole from Dylan is an expensive USB card that he has to get back. He endured things like coming to a vape shop owner like Gena (Lee Tan Chinn) because Dylan is threatening Harry’s wife Rosie (Karina Arroyave) if he doesn’t return said USB card.

The film takes place in, well, New York City, so it’ll show its viewers the changing exteriors of that magical city. But a lot of the key moments of this film closing up on Harry’s face. The camera pans here show Segan’s subtle hand. The camera movements here are few and far between, Segan using them only when necessary, capturing emotion. Previous scenes also indicate Harry’s jail stint, and other moments have us knowing that Harry knows his limits. Despite surviving for so long, he has no illusions about his invincibility, and Dylan, then, serves as his opposite. The rest of The Only Living Pickpocket in New York is a battle of wills, Harry mostly acquiescing to Dylan’s wants.

My one big critique of The Only Living Pickpocket in New York is that it leads its viewers to a foregone ending. It’s a valid critique even if it’s played out. After all, Segan is giving us a genre film that follows a few conventions. We all know who wins, but films like this about how they win and whether or not their wins are worth the risks. Besides, the film answers the ‘how’ questions through its detours, like where Harry must go to get that USB. The film plants those seeds early on, showing Harry’s routine with a previous mark and how he gets his money. His usual connection is a gold buyer like Ben (Steve Buscemi), whose own connections add to the film’s fun.

What makes The Only Living Pickpocket in New York are the performances, Turturro deserving his flowers. But probably the hardest performance here is Arroyave’s performance here playing his disabled wife Rosie. Such a character needs to express emotions and states like defenselessness and grief without movement. She does this so well during her scenes with Dylan as well as during a scene during Harry saving her. Everyone else I mentioned is great and has varying degrees of subtlety as the film requires like Will Price. The same goes for the other actors here, and it’s nice to finally see Esposito show that he can be subtle.

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York is available in select Canadian theatres.