Film Reviews

August 29, 2025

In the hands of a lesser director and star, "Caught Stealing" might have been a mess, but with Darren Aronofsky and Austin Butler driving behind and in front of the camera, respectively, it ends up feeling like a mess by design. The movie is all over the place in terms of plot and plausibility, and for the first quarter of it, we question why we should even care about Hank Thompson, Butler's character, a bartender and alcoholic, who's presumably nobody special. But shortly into it, we buy into the freneticism, and we can see that Hank, despite being light on ambition, is friendly, loyal, and flawed in ways that we can identify with. He works with what he's got, and for these and other reasons, Hank is a guy we find ourselves rooting for, not only because he's put into impossible situations but also because he's trying to make up for past mistakes.

Despite its mix of traditional genres, "Caught Stealing" isn't necessarily easy to describe. It joins other wacky action crime comedy thrillers from which it derives, such as Guy Ritchie's "Snatch," Matthew Vaughn's "Layer Cake," and the Safdie Brothers' "Good Time" and "Uncut Gems," whereby there are a lot of plates spinning and many colorful characters to keep track of, many with foreign accents. Granted, "Caught Stealing" isn't as complex or cerebral as those other films, and it probably bites off more than it can chew, but it has a heart and keeps us on our toes.

The film also wastes no time, thrusting us immediately into the hubbub of 1998 when the story takes place, which is two years before the novel by Charlie Huston, who adapted his own source for the screenplay. The speculation for the change is that Aronofsky and Huston liked the post season of the San Francisco Giants in 1998 more than in 2000, and the Giants play a moderate role in the plot. Perhaps Aronofsky and Huston thought the wild card game the Giants played against the Chicago Cubs in '98 gave the story more tension and urgency than their National League Division Series loss to the NY Mets in 2000. In any case, what we need to know is Hank is from California and a huge Giants fan, and indeed he ends every phone call to his beloved mom, whom we never see until the closing credits, with "Go Giants!"

Hank used to be a ball player himself, and as early as the opening scene, we pick up on his athleticism and stamina, and even though he's now beyond peak ball-player age, he still has a lot of physicality and restless energy. He once envisioned himself playing professionally, but a tragedy in high school left a permanent scar on his body, although that's just one half of it, and it's the least devastating half. Now Hank lives in dumpy apartment building in the East Village in New York City, working as a bartender for a fellow drunk named Paul (Griffin Dunne) and is in a quasi-relationship with Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz), a paramedic by day whose job skills come in handy when she has to sew up Hank's physical wounds.

I'll not reveal the many details of the hyperactive plot, but the long and short of it is that Hank finds himself in the most unlikely and dangerous of predicaments over the course of the next few days we spend with him. His many misadventures involve run-ins with two muscle-for-hire Russians (Yuri Kolokolnikov and Nikita Kukushkin); losing internal organs; having to climb outside his window and hang on for dear life (in one of the film's best-captured action sequences by cinematographer Matthew Libatique); exchanging semi-flirtatious words with Detective Roman (Regina King); and being kidnapped by two Hasidic Jewish brothers, Lipa (Liev Schreiber Lipa) and Shmully (Vincent D'Onofrio), who are willing to shoot and kill perfect strangers but won't negotiate with breaking Shabbos.

The funny thing is that Hank's troubles all stem from him performing a kind, seemingly no-catch deed by agreeing to look after Bud, the beloved cat of his British, mohawked neighbor, Russ (Matt Smith), who takes off for England. From that point on, things run amok, with Hank taking punches and kicks to every part of his body; foot and car chases; shoot-outs galore; blood spurting everywhere; and head-on vehicle collisions. There are a couple brief interludes when the characters (and audience) get to catch their breath, including a nostalgic trip to the batting cage and eating home-cooked matzo ball soup. All the while, we're waiting to figure out what the bad guys want from Hank.

I've not read Huston's novel, but I can't imagine it strived to be anything more than a fun and exciting potboiler, which is the same type of escapade the movie becomes. Given the rather thin story and colorful yet mostly one-note characters, save for Hank and Yvonne, we might have expected "Caught Stealing" to settle on merely being a technical exercise. Even if that was the case, it'd be a good one, because for a modern-day action movie, it's surprisingly devoid of overwrought or glossy digital effects, and much of what we see has a gritty tangibility to it. Credit should be given to production designer Mark Friedberg and set decorator Lisa Scoppa for creating an atmosphere that has a wear-and-tear quality, which places us in the movie's harsh and dirty world.

And yet, the movie ends up being more than just superficial kinesis because the central character (along with the cat he's been charged with keeping alive) is so endearing. While the pickles he finds himself in are not necessarily relatable, Hank, as played by Butler, makes them seem like they could be. Even with his star power rising, Butler continues to possess and evoke the humility and range of a young Brad Pitt, and whether he's playing Elvis, Feyd-Rautha in "Dune," or a motorcycle gang member in "The Bikeriders," he's always dedicated and convincing.

It's not just Butler who sells us on "Caught Stealing" though; the rest of the cast is just as committed and along for the ride. And editor Andrew Weisblum keeps things moving without sacrificing cohesion or small character-driven moments that keep the film grounded so that things don't stay too far out there. "Caught Stealing" spins its wheels fast enough that we don't have time to think about how ridiculous its plot is, but not so fast that we start to roll our eyes because it's so frivolous.

I don't suspect "Caught Stealing" will be remembered as one of Aronofsky's best or most memorable efforts, which is not to say he doesn't put effort into it. The generic story and derivative mechanisms don't match the filmmaker's headier and more emotionally resonant ventures ("Requiem for a Dream," "The Wrestler," "Mother!"), but we enjoy it for different, lighter reasons. It's speedy, funny, and entertaining, giving us dynamic action, a winning central character, and a decent tour of New York City's Lower East Side. And come on, who wouldn't go through all the trouble Hank does for a cat as cute as Bud?