Caught Stealing Review: Master Of Bleakness Darren Aronofsky Takes A Welcomed Swing At Having Some Fun

My relationship with the works of Darren Aronofsky is much different than the relationships I have with all of my other favorite modern directors. I celebrate those latter filmmakers by buying all of their movies in various physical media formats and making a habit of rewatching them, but I’ve never been able to do that with Aronofsky. I’ve been fascinated by his talents ever since I saw Pi when I was in high school, and I’ve been wowed by his entire filmography… but it’s rare that I can bear more than one viewing. I know I will never own a copy of Requiem For A Dream because there is a zero percent chance of me ever watching it again.

This is the nice bonus of Caught Stealing. After spending the better part of three decades becoming a master of bleak cinema, Aronofsky’s adaptation of Charlie Huston’s novel of the same name is a refreshing change of pace tonally, and it showcases a new dimension of his tremendous skills. There’s no question that it still has its dark moments, from which it’s able to develop its character arcs and intense stakes, but the filmmaker allows himself to be a bit slick and cool while unfurling his comedic neo-noir thriller full of colorful personalities.

Only further solidifying Austin Butler as leading man material, the Elvis star plays Hank Thompson: a former talented baseball prospect whose destiny was changed to serving drinks at a New York dive bar after a car accident shattered his dreams. Albeit a functional alcoholic, he lives a relatively happy life and has a blossoming romance with an EMT named Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz) – but everything in his world becomes chaos after he acquiesces to an innocuous cat-sitting request from his punker neighbor Russ (Matt Smith), who is dealing with a family emergency.

Hank, who describes himself as more of a dog person, isn’t particularly fond of the feline, but cat bites and fur on his bed becomes the least of his problems when a pair of Russian mobsters (Yuri Kolokolnikov, Nikita Kukushkin) visits his building and end up savagely beating him because of his association with Russ. Following a brief stay in the hospital, he reaches out to a detective (Regina King) who leaves her card with his doctors, and he discovers that he has been accidentally roped into a cartel conflict between the Russians, a criminally connected Brighton Beach club owner (Benito A Martínez Ocasio), and a pair of Hasidic gangsters (Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio).

Not all of the story ingredients are super fresh, but Caught Stealing delivers a mystery that blends thrills and fun.

With an extra boost from 1998 setting, Caught Stealing is narratively reminiscent of movies you’d see in the filmographies of Shane Black, Guy Ritchie, or Joel and Ethan Coen, and while it wouldn’t be viewed as the sharpest, best, or most original work coming from those creative minds, it has some engaging and fun tricks up its sleeve. The various trailers for the movie unfortunately give away the answer to one of the bigger questions pushing the story forward (namely why it is that Russ has a target on his back), but Charlie Huston consistently keeps other irons in the fire that keep things interesting – setting up other mysteries that radiate from some shocking twists and keeping the audience questioning who in the ensemble of characters can be trusted.

Not every swing is successful, as the movie ends up using more than a couple well-used tropes in propelling Hank’s dark adventure through the crime world of New York in the late 1990s. It teeters on being too derivative, but it’s ultimately able to coast thanks to the film’s style and the talent involved.

The whole cast is having a lot of fun, but it’s Austin Butler’s turn that anchors the film.

Having directed multiple actors to Oscar-nominated/winning performances, Darren Aronofsky stuffing Caught Stealing with on-screen talent is far from a surprise (on top of having the expansive cast, there are a number of fun cameos as well) – and while not everyone has the opportunity to play with a wide array of dimensions, they have vivid personalities to bridge the gap. Scene-stealers include Matt Smith, who brings the mohawk-sporting Russ to life with a shocking and entertaining range of emotions, and Nikita Kukushkin, as the off-the-charts weird Russian enforcer Microbe, but at the end of the day, this is principally an extension of Austin Butler’s on-going spotlight moment.

From his work as a Manson-influenced killer to the King Of Rock and Roll to a sadistic intergalactic fascist, Butler has spent recent years impressing with his range, and Caught Stealing continues that trend as he is able to bring his impressive charisma to what is a much more down-to-earth part. As a character, Hank is smart, capable, likable, and flawed, all of which make him compelling as he tries to escape his deadly predicament, and Butler perfectly plays all of the highs and lows of emotion that strike along the way.

While still working with some grisly material, Darren Aronofsky shows a flair for action and period storytelling – demonstrating smart comedic timing as well.

Having Butler as his lead allows Darren Aronofsky to properly explore the darker sides of his sensibilities, as Hank is haunted by the traumatic accident that devastated his career in addition to dealing with the nightmare of happenstance that has abducted his life, but there is also a clear intention in the work for the director to do something new. Between Hank leading a bar sing-a-long to Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch,” nimble chases through the streets of New York, and Russ’ adorable cat playing a key supporting role in the whole ordeal, there is a pursuit of fun that doesn’t interrupt the drama. Aronofsky makes skilled use of the story’s time and place (in addition to its soundtrack full of 1990s hits, I, as a New York Mets fan, particularly love a sequence that sees characters racing through crowds at the now-gone Shea Stadium), and collaboration with cinematographer Matthew Libatique and editors Justin Allison and Andrew Weisblum yields a thrilling collection of dynamic action beats.

Within the full spectrum of Darren Aronofsky’s directorial canon, Caught Stealing is a title that rates toward the middle of the pack – but that more than anything speaks to the exceptional quality of his other works, and it’s nonetheless refreshing to see him take on something so different. It doesn’t dig down to extreme emotional depths like Requiem For A Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan or The Whale, but that’s counterbalanced by it being a cool, occasionally sexy, fun diversion.