'The King of Staten Island' is overlong but a little refreshing

Judd Apatow are often pleasurable for me in the moment but don't wear well over the time. The biggest exception for me is The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which despite some very dated, problematic bits remains a silly delight.

He is, despite his political leanings, a conservative director disguised as a radical one. His narratives almost always reinforce the importance of the traditional family unit and revolve around mostly male protagonists who are in a state of some kind of arrested development who must embrace adulthood in order to redeem themselves.

In some ways, The King of Staten Island is a departure from his usual work. It doesn't feel like a series of improvised bits (although an extended run about hilariously bad tattoos feels like a throwback to his earlier movies), many of the jokes land organically and more realistically. It's pitched more like a comedy-drama in the vein of a James L. Brooks movie and his leading man -- SNL's Pete Davidson -- is a likable enough, low key presence.

The key here is his character -- not unlike Davidson himself -- struggles with mental health issues, which makes his malaise a little bit more accessible and sympathetic than most Apatow heroes.

It's still incredibly overlong and meandering without much of a driving narrative. It's taken on Staten Islanders is pretty broad and stereotypical but it's at least a different milieu than I'm used to seeing in mainstream entertainment.

You can see a subplot involving a de-glammed Marisa Tomei as Davidson's mom and a mustachioed Bill Burr (who is very good here) from a mile away but at least is sweetly funny and plausible. It leads to the closest thing to a plot during the first half of the film since its the inciting reason for Davidson's character --- who's 25 mind you -- to finally move out of his parent's house.

For a moment the movie seems like it might go down a darker path but instead the second half of the film is the familiar terrain that most Apatow typically traffics in. I was hoping for a more ambiguous ending (like I wish his messy Funny People could have had). But this is meant to be a crowdpleaser, albeit a less bombastic one.

The climax is corny and again, predictable -- but it works anyway and the film takes on another dimension when you realize its a semi-autobiographical journey for Davidson. And at the end of the day -- I really liked the film. I wouldn't say Davidson is going to become the next great leading man -- the film doesn't ask too much of him.

But their is a rough hewn charm to him and the film that's a little refreshing if not even a little bit revolutionary.