The frantic and frenetic Caught Stealing is a wild, bloody, and frequently funny change of pace for director Darren Aronofsky. In typical Aronofsky fashion, there’s a lot of darkness and hardship to be found within Caught Stealing, but it’s also unabashedly trying to be a punchy, twist abounding crowd pleaser. Boasting a profound sense of unpredictability and lightning quick pacing, this adaptation of Charlie Huston’s novel (written for the screen by the author himself) packs a lot into a small package, keeping the pulse racing and the viewer guessing. It’s one of Aronofsky’s most impressive films (even if it’s not as “artfully minded” as some of his other works) and a perfect bit of late summer entertainment.
The year is 1998, and California boy Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) has been living in New York’s Lower East Side for over a decade. A once promising baseball prospect with a haunted past, Hank has settled into the city well, working as a bartender and dating Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz), a paramedic. Hank’s comfortable life is shattered, however, when his British punk rocker neighbour, Russ (Matt Smith), asks for a seemingly simple favour. Russ has to go back to London to attend to his father’s failing health, and he needs someone to watch his cat, Bud (Canadian feline Tonic). With some prodding from Yvonne, dog person Hank agrees to care for the cat, but not long after Russ departs, a pair of hyper-violent Russians (Nikita Kukushkin, Yuri Kolokolnikov) come looking for the neighbour. Unsatisfied that they can’t find what they’re looking for, the heavies beat Hank to within an inch of his life, and things only get worse from there. A dogged narcotics detective (Regina King), a pair of orthodox Jewish gangsters (Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio), and a drug kingpin (Benito Martínez Ocacio, a.k.a. Bad Bunny) are all demanding to see Russ, and if Hank can’t help, they’re more than willing to make him their new target for information.
It’s hard to fully re-create the vibe of mid-gentrification New York City today, but Aronofsky (Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream, mother!) lightly layers on the period detail to give Caught Stealing a texture all its own, bringing a bit more grime into the frame and resurrecting some long gone cultural landmarks from the dead. But the time period isn’t the point of Caught Stealing, which is far deeper rooted in the cultivation of pure, unrelenting chaos. Caught Stealing doesn’t take long to get going, and takes just as little time foisting huge (sometimes devastating) surprises on the viewer. Aronofsky nails the tone of a film where anything can happen without warning or foreshadowing. The violence is shocking, and brutal. Caught Stealing is akin to watching someone getting repeatedly traumatized in real time, but Huston’s script is so witty, snappy, and emotionally layered that it plays like an Elmore Leonard novel that just did a kilo of cocaine.
Unlike the NYC of today, the city feels dangerous and alive with possibility here, a place where only the cunning survive and culture is everywhere. Once Hank finds himself on the run from a gaggle of people who want to hurt him, Aronofsky’s playful sense of style comes into play, with inventive framing, fluid action sequences, and camerawork that zips up and down streets and alleyways with the greatest of ease. For cinematographer and longtime Aronofsky collaborator Matthew Libatique, the one-two punch of this and Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest proves that he’s one of the best out there at capturing New York City in all its glory.
Butler, in the most compelling non-Elvis role he’s been handed yet, perfectly grounds Caught Stealing in a sense of believability. Hank isn’t a perfect person or a hero, but he can handle himself in a tough scrape when called upon. Whether plotting his next move or hurriedly trying to escape more punishment and torture, Butler excels at giving Aronofsky a great deal of humanity amid the cacophony of noise provided by the story. His chemistry with Kravitz’s concerned lover is wonderful, and scenes where he’s opposite King’s equally memorable detective provide a perfect balance between comedy and drama. As a star vehicle for Butler, Caught Stealing shows viewers sides of him as a performer they might not know existed.
Caught Stealing isn’t quite the film being promised by the film’s marketing campaign. It’s a lot edgier of a lark than the trailer makes it out to be, but certainly still a thrill ride. And those expecting something high minded, subtextual, and profound from Aronofsky definitely won’t be satisfied by his rousing all gas, no brakes approach here. But for a film that never lets up and always finds ways to shock the audience from out of nowhere, the best compliment that can be paid towards something like Caught Stealing is that it’s breathless without feeling exhausting. It exhilarates in the right ways, and like what it does to its hero, the film pushes the viewer as far as they can go without fully breaking. Maybe there are some cinephiles who would prefer feelings broken by an Aronofsky film, but for me, I prefer the pleasant surprise of something like Caught Stealing.
Caught Stealing opens in theatres everywhere on Friday, August 29, 2025.
