Much of the curiosity surrounding the New York crime thriller Caught Stealing stems from the notion that it is directed by the Oscar-nominated Darren Aronofsky. Is what feels like a throwback riff on the kinetic, darkly comedic contemporary gangster flick from early Quentin Tarantino or Guy Ritchie something a prestige director really needed to tackle? Well, keep in mind all the many projects Aronofsky helped develop for film, such as Lone Wolf and Cub, Cat’s Cradle, RoboCop, and a wide variety of comic book properties, including those by Frank Miller and Alan Moore. Basically, while Aronofsky has shown a mature side that aligns with what’s expected by prestige standards, he’s just as happy diving into something with less weight that ultimately feels as though it’s in service of pure fun. Caught Stealing becomes a bit too serious for its own good. Still, I can’t deny how effectively the movie’s stylish underpinnings are in presenting this gritty world and its eccentric inhabitants.
Austin Butler stars as Hank Thompson, a former baseball player who now tends bar in 1998 New York City. He has a girlfriend, Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz), and is known as a genuinely good guy, but he is not always the best at holding his liquor. The plot kicks into gear once Matt Smith’s Russ unexpectedly leaves town, and several tough guys come looking for Hank. As Russ’s neighbor, who was just planning to look after the cat (played by Tonic), Hank tries to calm the situation down, only to find himself beaten up and missing a kidney for his troubles. Further complications send Hank deeper into the criminal underworld, which is exactly where he does not want to be.
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Whatever else I may say about the film, it is worth noting just how good Austin Butler is in the lead. Once again showing signs of a leading man who has a healthy career ahead of him, Butler does a great job of playing up the intensity of specific sequences, the frustration of others, and the amusement that comes during the few moments he gets to have some fun. It’s committed work, and continues to show what a talent this guy is.
The problem is that I’m not sure what Caught Stealing aims to achieve. Is the movie looking to be a fun riff on crime thrillers such as Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels? Or should we be recognizing the reality of Hank’s situation and have constant anxiety over the baffling number of horrific things happening in Hank’s life, as if it’s a commentary on those movies? The film doesn’t offer the best answer for this, which could be attributed to Aronofsky’s inability to deliver a film with the energy of a “just because” sense of understanding.
Early on, we are introduced to Hank, Yvonne, and other well-meaning individuals. Obviously, something will change the status quo, but that shift in the story comes with so much aggression that it makes one fearful for what will happen to Hank next. And everyone is right to feel that way, as things do not lighten up. Even with stylish cinematography by Matthew Libatique, which is arranged to make us feel pleased with how well the film conveys its take on New York, it doesn’t discount the amount of violence on display.
Make no mistake, this isn’t just a John Wick-shoot-em-up when it comes to who is being affected. Caught Stealing taps deep into the horrors of torture and being paranoid due to a chance encounter. There’s a method to this madness, but film is not afraid to go dark, let alone keep hitting when characters are already down. As a result, I suppose I finally found myself stuck considering how far is too far for a director who may have wanted something less emotionally wrought than his previous film, The Whale, but still ends up with a storyline pushing just as hard toward the heaviness of Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream.
Okay, but putting aside tone and what’s on display to upset Hank, there are other elements to admire. This is a fairly stacked cast of respectable actors, and some are going all in. Live Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio are Hasidic Jews who serve as muscle for their bubbe (Carol Kane). Smith wears a giant mohawk, sports a thick Cockney accent, and may as well have a Sex Pistols shirt on at all times. Other actors, such as Kravitz and Regina King, help keep the film grounded in some way, providing Hank someone to explain the reality of his situation to.
As far as pure villainy goes, Yuri Kolokolnikov and Nikita Kukushkin are frankly quite scary as the Russian goons who do not hesitate to inflict pain. Benito Martinez Osasio, aka Bad Bunny, is also on hand for many of these scenes. The singer is proving to have quite a bit of screen presence in the various crime flicks he’s been popping up in. Whether or not that means he should only be appearing in these kinds of films, I’m not sure, but it also brings me back to what Aronofsky is doing here.
Caught Stealing has many hallmarks of what to expect from this kind of film. Still, it also relies on us following a hero who is tangential to the events that put this story in motion. Hank is ultimately an innocent, so we don’t want to see him being pushed into various set pieces. Getting him caught up in the mayhem is necessary for the sake of having a movie, but it’s these choices regarding his role in all of this that make it a tougher watch compared to letting us follow along with an anti-hero or someone desperate enough to join these dangerous crowds. For Hank, the consequences matter, and even if there’s some net-positive that speaks to extreme ways of accomplishing something thematically pretty simple.
As a digression for Aronofsky, when looking at his past few films, even then, I would say it’s hard to tell if he managed to blow off some steam. As a form of adult entertainment, Caught Stealing is at its best when it leans into its quirky side, complete with its most distinctive characters and clever filmmaking choices. Still, the harshness of Hank’s reality isn’t avoided, nor are certain consequences, which hold this film back from being merely a late-summer escapism. Ultimately, that puts this film in some sort of grimy limbo that I wasn’t against visiting, but I’m also not sure if I’d want to explore again.
Caught Stealing opens in theaters on August 29, 2025.
