Hunted by Elmore Leonard (1977)
If you were bored in Israel and had access to explosives, would you help a man escape from the criminal types trying to kill him? Loaded question these days, I know. That's the plot of Hunted, Leonard's tale of a soldier about to leave the military who helps out a man in witness protection escape those he witnessed and needed protecting from. Hell of a story.
The book opens with Al Rosen hitting on Edi Broder. Both are older Americans, but he's been in Israel for a while and she's a tourist. After a fun night, the hotel catches fire and Al saves a bunch of people, finding himself in international newspapers. A clever way to start a novel. We like Al because Edi likes Al, and we believe Edi because she seems like she has her shit together. He might be a conman or worse, but she's looking for a fling so you go girl.
Then we cut to Davis, our soldier we talked about earlier. Career military, he's about to get out and does not know what to do. He's been smuggling money into the country for Rosen, part of Rosen's company taking care of the man after testifying. Nothing quite seems right until Rosen finds himself in some shit and David likes being in some shit. His solution is pretty simple as he has the skills to help and decides to do so. Not much more going into it than that.
An interesting twist on the witness protection is obviously the setting. It creates a wild west as everyone from Rosen and Davis to the gangsters Valenzuela, Rashad, and Cass have to navigate the country they know little about. There's sparse help and sparser places to hide as they do a somewhat slow chase into a wilderness. The money involved is substantial (for 1977), but few people in the story care about that. It's about one man being hunted by many and how that's not really fair.
Damn good book, quick read. Check it out.
Only Living Pickpocket in New York (2026)
Director/Writer: Noah Segan; Starring John Turturro, Will Price, Steve Buscemi, Giancarlo Esposito
If you made your living as a pickpocket, how old do you think you would get? For Harry, it's as old as John Turturro is now. He's spent his life lifting watches and wallets and does not understand these fancy phones and USB sticks he's finding in people's pockets now. He just wants to make enough to care for his bedridden wife when he takes the wrong thing from the wrong jackass.
The mob and the police get equal amounts of Harry's time. The kid he robs is a complete asshole, angry that anyone would dare yaddah yaddah but also that he got bested by an older man and made to look like a fool. He drives a flashy car and carries his crypto in a USB card because he wants to bring the crime world into the 21st century when he finds out how fragile that can be. On the other side, Harry has a friend in Giancarlo Esposito, a detective close to retirement who remembers when things were as simple as stopping some guy from reaching into a tourists pocket. Both sides meet at Steve Buciemi's pawn shop where the man knows how much a watch is and where to send bad electronics. Harry's world is complete and believable as we watch him struggle to find the USB before that shitty kid hurts his invalid wife.
Once again, I must point to another movie that loves New York City. Filmed there and loved there, I'm not gonna do that "the city is a character" shit, but you will feel it. I'm not so sure the times work out as Harry moves across the city, but hey, I'm only a tourist.
I'm gonna point out one scene but not tell you about it. Harry visits Tatiana Maslany, who gives the smallest and best performance of her career, and she's been in some great things doing great work. This broke my heart in two watching her.
In the end, Harry gives some advice to a young pickpocket. "You might work alone but you don't have to be lonely." It's somewhat hopeful and kind of a movie that will make you shed a tear near the end. It may not end well, spoilers, but I loved to watch it go