Caught Stealing, primarily based on the ebook by Charlie Huston, who additionally wrote the screenplay, isn’t the crime thriller you would possibly count on from director Darren Aronofsky. It’s bought the filmmaker’s signature traits — together with a personality on a downward spiral — but it surely’s by some means funnier than a few of his previous movies. That isn’t to say it doesn’t lean into the darkness; it could actually get very darkish, particularly when the movie asserts the excessive stakes for Hank (Austin Butler), a bartender who was very near enjoying Main League Baseball.
The movie is simple sufficient, but it’s working on a number of ranges that principally come collectively by the top. Hank is a personality who appears down on his luck at first, a man who might’ve had all of it if not for an damage sustained in a horrible automotive accident. He’s bought a ingesting downside and resides half a life.
The one good factor he’s bought going for him is a relationship with Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz), a paramedic. Hank is all the time in a darkish place, however issues go from unhealthy to a lot, a lot worse when Russ (Matt Smith), his neighbor, unintentionally leaves Hank within the midst of a legal underworld he isn’t ready to deal with.
Caught Stealing Strikes A Tonal Steadiness With Its Darkish Comedy
Most movies can’t discover the road to stroll between a narrative’s darkness and its humor. Aronofsky manages to straddle each with ease. Huston’s script is full of depth and pressure, sneaking in moments of sunshine amidst the chaos and confusion of Hank’s modified circumstances, which contain a myriad of standout unhealthy guys and Regina King’s semi-impatient Detective Roman.
One thing that doesn’t immediately come off as humorous out of the blue is in Caught Stealing. And but it doesn’t lean thus far in that it undermines the seriousness of the movie. Much more spectacular is the truth that the movie’s narrative stays intact and targeted, sustaining a tempo that solely ever begins to really feel a bit drained close to the top. However then the movie adjustments gears, hitting laborious with a revelation that lands at simply the precise time and escalates Hank’s already perilous scenario.
Aronofsky is adept at holding the momentum and interesting us by giving the story real stakes. The plot will get a contact convoluted when Russ is introduced again into the plot, but it surely’s easy sufficient that the precise particulars don’t matter as a lot as the large image, which is crystal clear.
If something, the movie wobbles barely when making an attempt to discover Hank’s tumultuous emotions concerning the best way his previous has formed his current. He’s clearly torn about the best way his life turned out, however the movie doesn’t spend an excessive amount of time on it, particularly as issues ramp up. A 3rd act reveal pulls issues collectively, although, and rights the ship.
The movie exhibits (and tells) us how salt-of-the-earth Hank is, not less than in comparison with these out to get him, however we’re additionally inspired to query how true that’s at varied factors. Even Hank isn’t satisfied of it, however Caught Stealing doesn’t push it, permitting the character arc to simmer as an alternative.
Caught Stealing Is Austin Butler’s Present
However The Supporting Solid Is Extremely Sturdy
Austin Butler stands out as the movie’s lead, however Aronofsky’s newest can so typically really feel like an ensemble piece. Each character has a objective, regardless of how small an interplay. The movie introduces a number of gamers at the beginning earlier than pushing a number of to the aspect for later. It’s completely positioned, giving Hank’s journey a heightened sense of concern that by no means abates. If he’s threatened — by Shmully (Vincent D’Onofrio), Lipa (Liev Schreiber), or Colorado (Benito A Martínez Ocasio, aka Dangerous Bunny), to call a number of — we all know the antagonists imply enterprise.
But it surely’s Butler’s showcase, in fact, and he delivers. The actor slips into a personality who’s many issues without delay: haunted by his previous, fearful for his life, a struggling alcoholic, a caring boyfriend, a loving son. Hank can be a person who, whereas not a killer, has his limits examined all through the movie. It culminates in a strategic, full-circle second that’s earned. Butler conveys a lot with nuance, imbuing emotion whereas concurrently holding himself again.
Caught Stealing takes its story severely, but it surely isn’t afraid to have some enjoyable within the course of.
The remainder of the forged — from Zoë Kravitz’s Yvonne, who maintains boundaries with Hank when he oversteps them however can’t keep away for too lengthy, to the scene-stealing Regina King and George Abud as Duane, Hank’s complaining neighbor — is great. They lean into the movie’s darkish comedy naturally and, because the characters transfer round Hank, the occasions, bleak as they’re, are additionally softened. Caught Stealing takes its story severely, but it surely isn’t afraid to have some enjoyable within the course of.
To mix a sturdy narrative with darkish humor, and with out shedding a lot tempo, is a feat unto itself, and one Aronofsky’s movie manages fairly craftily. It transitions from one scene to the subsequent with assuredness, aided by Andrew Weisblum’s swift enhancing and Matthew Libatique’s gritty but grounded cinematography. The movie is about in 1998, and it’s fortunately not making an attempt to shove nostalgia for the period down our throats. Right here, it appears like a pure extension of the movie’s setting.
Caught Stealing is a refreshing addition to Aronofsky’s filmography. It’s intentionally humorous and macabre, but it surely asks us to take it severely. That’s principally attributable to there truly being stakes for Hank. These chasing him to acquire their cash aren’t pleasant and show, greater than as soon as, that they imply enterprise. It makes for some chaotic enjoyable, which Aronofsky reins in a bit at instances. It ups the ante — not only for Hank however for the viewers’s funding, and also you’ll need to see this one by means of to the top.
Caught Stealing
7/10
- Launch Date
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August 29, 2025
- Director
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Darren Aronofsky
- Writers
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Charlie Huston
- Producers
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Ari Handel, Jeremy Dawson