Rob Reviews "Caught Stealing"

Fans of director Darren Aronofsky may be confused by a film like Caught Stealing.  For a guy whose career is defined by films like Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, The Whale, and Mother!, this one is a bit of a departure for him outside of The Wrestler.  The thing is that this is not necessarily a bad thing.

This is his most “mainstream” type of film that comes from a script written by Charlie Huston (who also wrote the book).  Austin Butler plays Hank Thompson, a high school baseball phenom whose life takes a different direction, bringing him to work in a New York City bar in 1998.  When his neighbor, Russ (Matt Smith, who I honestly believed was Flea until I was in the theater), asks him to watch his cat while he goes out of town, a cast of characters come calling that forces Hank into a web of lies, theft, and bullets that turn his life into pure chaos.

There ARE hints of Aronofsky’s style here, but only a keen eye would be able to say “oh yeah, he did this”.  The story itself HAS to take the forefront here due to the number of layers and characters involved, especially when your cast boasts names like Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Griffin Dunne, Liev Schreiber, Benito “Bad Bunny” Martinez Ocasio, and Vincent D’Onofrio.  Given that this is Huston’s story through-and-through, that works to the advantage of the film overall, which juggles all of its storylines in a way where one does not overshadow another while keeping its Venn Diagram in place working towards a finale that is both satisfying and fun.

This cast (which also includes a couple of surprises I will not spoil here) is STRONG top to bottom, and even includes one-time AEW talent Action Bronson in a decent-sized role. Aronofsky does get the best out of his cast and gives each of them a chance to shine, making this an ensemble film where it could have easily been a vehicle for Butler.  Make no mistake: he IS the center of this whirlwind, but without the others around him keeping him on his toes at every twist and turn of this story, it does not work NEARLY as well.

One of the advantages to the time we live in is that the traditional “rules” that Hollywood applies to its film releases seem to diminish more and more each year.  Where January and February were normally the “dumping ground” for films they HAD to release to August being the “winding down” of the Summer Movie Season, films like Caught Stealing buck that trend in a way that could make this one a sleeper hit of 2025.  While this is not necessarily mandatory to see in a theater, it also would be a good idea to put down some cash to contribute to what should be its box office success.  And just so we can level-set expectations here, there is no use of Jane’s Addiction’s biggest hit on the soundtrack.  I’m just sayin’.