Some Tattoos are visible, some aren't What can i say, the king of staten island is a great movie. It's a story about a guy in his mid 20's who's suffering from ADD and the pressure his environment puts on him to do something with his life. His sister is going to college and his deceased dad was a hero-firefighter, this resulting in putting even more pressure onto him to do something important. His dream is to become a tattoo artist, but things just don't seem to work out for him (he's also lacking human canvas to practice on ;-) ). Because of him failing to find a human canvas, he decides to tattoo a random 8 year old boy in the woods; but he doesn't get further than a single line. This leads to the boys dad visiting their house and getting into a relationship with the wannabe-tattoo-artists mother. The problem here is; his mothers new 'boyfriend' is a firefighter too, he puts more pressure on the guy, and acts like he's trying to fill in the 'father-role-gap' which the family was missing. All this results in a hot mess filled with prejudices about each others current and past lifestyle.
The King Of Staten Island has a very clear message; never judge a book by its cover. It's all about being open, supporting each other and giving people a chance to prove themselves. Where tattoos can seem to give off a 'dangerous' vibe, they can also be seen as the clearest and most functional way of communication there is. The movie tackles the differences between people in the way they express themselves; where our main character is very (negatively) outspoken and filled with tattoos - his mothers new boyfriend is the complete opposite (acting very positive and has 0 tattoos). The truth is they both kinda suck(ed) in life, but they communicate it to the outside world in a very different way, leading to frustration between the two.
Openness and communication is key in life, it brings opportunity and chances. The way you choose to communicate (for example through tattoos) is up to you, as long as you don't judge people for not expressing themselves in the same way (our main character for example surrounds himself with people who are just like him, rather than spending time with his mom or sister who really care about him but express themselves in a different way).
The King Of Staten Island talks about these subjects in a very exciting, funny and entertaining way. It knows what its going for and doesn't try to be more than it is. It basically succeeds in what it's trying to achieve. It has a few scenes which eventually go nowhere and have 0 purpose, but they didn't bother me that much. Don't expect top notch acting or an amazing story, just a decent enjoyable movie!