The King Of Staten Island Review: 6 Ups & 3 Downs

2. The Tonal Shifts Don't Always Work

At this point in his career, Apatow is surely capable of sliding between conflicting tones in his sleep, and his trademark mix of crude hilarity and sweet sentiment has likely been the reason why his films have resonated across such a wide spectrum of audiences.

Though the director largely tows that line well once again, there are absolutely moments where he gets a little too adventurous with the meandering, uneven tone of his film.

This is especially the case with one genre-bending subplot introduced in the middle of the movie, which not only feels wildly out of place, but also whiffs of a transparent, lazy attempt to shift protagonist Scott's (Davidson) focus away from certain characters and towards others instead.

As bold as it is that Apatow even tries to go to far-out territory like this, it's ultimately a swing and a miss. The film would be better - and shorter - if this dramatic detour were removed entirely.