On April 28 this year, Universal Studios threw a bomb on the pages of The Wall Street Journal with its historic statement: “It does not matter when and how cinemas will be reopened. From the new reality of the studio ».
Jeff Schell, CEO of "Universal" was not satisfied with that. Rather, he added, "Once the halls are re-opened, Universal will launch its films in two formats, cinematography, and on its broadcasting service (Comcast) at the same time."
The man was not joking, only the company has already launched the movie "Trolls World Tour" for its service "Streaming" during the curfew caused by the crisis "Covid-19", and she earned $ 100 million in three weeks, which is more than what the first part of the film won. Which was launched in 2017.
A follower of "Universal" news notes that it is not far from "Netflix", which has captured the momentum of the "Streaming" market. A quick look at the studio films shows us its remarkable activity in this home market. Two months ago, coinciding with the state of closure in the United States, "Universal" released the movie "The Invisible Man", "Emma" and "The Hunt." Shortly after that, Universal paid.
By "Trolls World Tour", and last week this movie was directed by the famous American comedian Judd Apatow, entitled The King of Staten Island, "The King of Staten Island", which was planned to be filmed this month without the pandemic. It is clear that "Universal" is considering its interest first, and this is not a blame for it, despite the frustration of the owners of the halls whose interests were badly damaged, and vowed in revenge to refrain from showing studio films in their halls in the future.
Director Apatão has no problem hiring a stand up comedian in movies with biographical elements. "King of Staten Island", his third project in this direction after Funny People starring Adam Sandler and Trainwreck starring Amy Schumer - who wrote the full text - in 2009 and 2015. This time, the hero and co-writing of the script with director is Pete Davidson, who takes advantage of his past to develop his character on screen. This time, the subject is deeper than the previous two times mentioned in the previous paragraph, because Davidson stands in a region overlapping between reality and fiction, so we do not know whether it is an absolute truth or an absolute fantasy. The result is Apatow, as we know it: «Comedy in conjunction with emotional touches and lamentations mixed with obscenity». The difference here is that the "King of Staten Island" is long, and after the 100th minute he loses his momentum to the end. This does not mean that previous Apatau films were short, as most of them exceed two hours. This is the story of a late teenager for a 24-year-old called Scott (Davidson), without family ties and under the influence of drugs, and indifferent to the future. Scott lives with his mother Margie (Marisa Tomai) - this is normal in Arab society, flawed in the West - and his relationship is weak with his younger sister Claire (Maud Apatow - the director's daughter), who is preparing to leave home to study in college.
Scott has a bunch of losers like him and a friend named Kelsey (Bill Bowley) who come together to chatter and use drugs. Scott dreams of a disgusting project, which is opening the first restaurant tattoo, meaning those who want to eat and drink, while waiting for a tattoo artist to finish drawing what they want on their bodies.
Scott is shocked to learn that his 17-year-old widow falls in love with Raymond (Bill Bohr), a fireman. Scott is strongly alienated from Raymond, because the first meeting between them (before getting to know his mother) was bad, and this leads to the second reason for alienation from him, which is that this man is ineligible in the eyes of Scott to take the place of his deceased father. Scott works to show Raymond's flaws in front of his mother, and he succeeds but the consequences are dire, and Scott himself pays for it as he expels him from the house. The background of the story is very interesting, because it matches the life of the film's hero 100%. Scott's father (the character and actor), who was a fireman on September 11, 2001, died exactly in those events while performing his work, and Scott (the character and actor) was seven years old at the time. And Scott (the character), the hero of the movie, is captured by Pett Davidson (the actor), which is the actor, the real son of Scott Davidson, the fireman who died on the day of the September strikes, meaning the son performs his true personality and uses his father's name.
Because Pett Davidson - we will use his real name and not the name of the character - performs himself, and when he talks about his father in the movie he means his real father, so the viewer is puzzled if this is fiction or reality, and it is often true, and all his dialogues seem more spontaneous than written, and his performance is consistent Exactly with his conversations, unlike all the other characters in the film that are clearly not written completely. This is why Davidson's performance is so captivating compared to others.
The strongest scene in the movie is when Scott goes out with Raymond and his last colleagues to watch a match, and there Scott tells them that he does not like the job of a firefighter, and that the firefighter should not marry and be a family, so that he does not break his wife's heart or the hearts of his children when he goes out in the morning to do his work, and does not return home Never after that morning.
Apatow was able to create a comedy with a weight this time, and better than all previous times, there is no playfulness or exaggerated positions, and there is a balance between laughter and serious situations that require sympathy from the audience.
Apatow prepared for this film well, and played a big role in developing the real Davidson character and career. Davidson appeared in a minor role in Trainwreck, which led him directly to the impromptu comedy on the popular program Satchery Night Live.
It is not surprising, therefore, that Apatau and Davidson are perfectly consistent in text, directing, and work as a whole. Apatau reliably delivers driving to Davidson, as he did with Schumer in Trainwreck, but the difference here is that we sympathize more because of personal experience, and because of the direct pain that Davidson reflects in the same viewer, and it is impossible for no one to sympathize with him. It is hard to imagine anyone else taking the place of Davidson except Adam Sandler, who is similar in appearance to first and face-split. "The King of Staten Island" is a very good example of how this kind of comedy should be. It is not merely clowning, but it is a sentiment that is transmitted to alleviate the pain of people who have been subjected to harsh personal experiences.
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"Universal" thinks about its interest first, and this is not a decision to be blamed for, despite the frustration of the owners of the halls whose interests were greatly damaged.
The film is a very good example of what comedy should be. It is not just clowning. Rather, it is a sentiment that is transmitted to alleviate human pain that has been subjected to harsh personal experiences.