Judd Apatow’s “The King of Staten Island” is based on what Pete Davidson’s life could have been like had he not become a comedian. But above all else, the comedy is supposed to be a “love letter” to Davidson’s mother, as well as a tribute to his late firefighter father who died responding to the Sept. 11 attacks.
While the comedy doesn’t use a lot of real-life events from Davidson’s life, it does draw from his life in one particular instance. In the film, Davidson plays a young man whose father, also a firefighter, died during active service, and he must get his life together as his mother starts dating a new man — also a firefighter.