John Turturro on His 'Very Human' Role in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

What the film is about

"The Only Living Pickpocket in New York" follows Harry Lehman, played by Turturro, a career pickpocket who works the five boroughs while caring for his disabled wife. According to a syndicated People feature on the film, the story unfolds over roughly 36 hours after Harry unknowingly lifts a USB drive tied to cryptocurrency from a young man connected to an organized crime family, forcing him to use decades of street knowledge to get it back before facing retaliation.

The ensemble includes Giancarlo Esposito, Tatiana Maslany, Steve Buscemi and Jamie Lee Curtis, according to the same report. A review from festival-coverage site The Contending describes the film's tension as rooted in the clash between Harry's analog, hands-on style of crime and a digital, cashless New York that has made his trade nearly obsolete.

Why Turturro calls the role 'very human'

Turturro told the outlet that people who turn to crime often come from difficult backgrounds and are, in his view, seeking a sense of family, and that nonviolent offenders like Harry follow their own unusual code of ethics because the crime involves no violence. He said the character's struggle to adapt as his world changes felt universal rather than tied to any one age group.

A rare leading role after decades with the Coens

Turturro is widely known for his collaborations with Joel and Ethan Coen, including "Miller's Crossing" (1990), "Barton Fink" (1991) — for which he won the Cannes Film Festival award for best actor — "The Big Lebowski" (1998) and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (2000), according to a syndicated interview originally published by IndieWire. The Coens themselves are not involved in "The Only Living Pickpocket in New York"; Turturro brought them up when asked about his career, saying he hopes the brothers will work together again, a wish he said many fans share, given their recent history of working on separate projects.

The same interview notes that Turturro, now 69, has never received an Oscar nomination despite his long filmography, and that Sony Pictures Classics is promoting this performance as a possible best-actor contender.

Turturro on Hollywood and working-class stories

In the IndieWire interview, Turturro also criticized what he sees as the film industry's neglect of working-class subjects, contrasting the number of films made about the Titanic with the absence of a major film centered on the Brooklyn Bridge, noting that the bridge continues to serve people every day. He said he considers the working class largely unexplored in mainstream cinema.

Festival run and release schedule

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2026, and was later selected for the Spotlight section of the 64th New York Film Festival, according to The Contending's festival coverage. Reports differ slightly on the theatrical rollout: the People feature cites an October 16, 2026 release, while The Contending and the film's Wikipedia entry describe a Sony Pictures Classics plan starting with a limited New York and Los Angeles opening on October 23, 2026, expanding nationwide on October 30.

Rotten Tomatoes lists the film at 98 percent approval from 44 reviews, with its critics' consensus describing the role as one of the best of Turturro's career. The film's Wikipedia entry separately notes a Metacritic score of 81 out of 100 based on 14 critics, a rating Metacritic categorizes as reflecting widespread positive reviews.