Pete Davidson Stars In “The King of Staten Island”

(from left) Richie (Lou Wilson), Scott Carlin (Pete Davidson), Oscar (Ricky Velez) and Igor (Moises Arias) in "The King of Staten Island," directed by Judd Apatow.
Photo credit Photo credit: Mary Cybulski / Universal Pictures

DETROIT (WWJ) - Saturday Night Live breakout Pete Davidson stars in “The King of Staten Island,” which is now streaming on Netflix.

But, if you’ve seen the 2001 feature film “Baby Boy,” you’ve seen “The King of Staten Island.”  That’s because the stories are so strikingly similar that it’s hard not to think about the John Singleton cult classic after watching the latest offering from Writer/Producer/Director Judd Apatow.

In “Baby Boy,” 20-year-old unemployed Jody lives at home with his mom.  He’s basically a big baby and a baby daddy who refuses to grow up.  In “The King of Staten Island,” Scott is a mid-20-year-old wannabe tattoo artist who still lives at home with his mother.  
Jody continues to play the field, even though he has two kids by two different women.  And, while he sees nothing wrong with his love life, he gets extremely upset with his mother when she meets a new man, Melvin, and they start dating.  As for Scott, he’s not dating Kelsey; he’s only having sex with her because, as he puts it, he hasn’t figured his life out yet and doesn’t want to mess up their longtime friendship.  Scott was just seven years old when he lost his firefighter father, who was killed on the job.  He spends his days hanging out with his buddies, getting high and practicing his tattoo skills on anyone who will let him.  Scott's younger sister, Claire, meantime, has her life figured out and heads off to college right after graduating from high school.  While she tries to help him get his life on track, he prefers to wallow in his misery, while dreaming of a career as a real tattoo artist.  

While Claire is away at school, Scott stays at home, living with his mom.  Even though she wants him to move on and do something with his life, she doesn’t push him too much.  But things really start to get tense around the house when the relationship between his mom and her new man, Ray, starts getting serious.  Just like Jody does in “Baby Boy,” Scott tries to get them to break up.  In both movies, circumstances cause a new bond to develop between the two younger men and their adversaries. 

While “Baby Boy” is a fictionalized account of life in South Central L.A., “The King of Staten Island” is based on the trials of leading man Pete Davidson’s life while growing up on Staten Island.  If you have 2 hours and 17 minutes to spare, it’s worth checking out, especially if you’re a fan of Davidson’s.  Otherwise, you’d do just as well re-watching “Baby Boy.”

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