Throughout his filmography, there is always the impression that Darren Aronofsky is not the most empathetic director, often telling stories where his characters destroy themselves in a physical and/or psychological manner, whether it is drug addiction (Requiem for a Dream), wrestling (The Wrestler), or ballet (Black Swan). Very rarely do you go and see a Darren Aronofsky film and think you are going to have a fun time, unless you think people torturing themselves is your idea of a good time. However, Caught Stealing shows that the director can have a fun side.
Written by Charlie Huston who adapts his own book of the same name, Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing takes place in 1998, where Henry “Hank” Thompson (Austin Butler) works as a bartender living on the Lower East Side following a car crash that ruins his career goals of being a professional baseball player. When his British punk neighbor Russ (Matt Smith) returns to London to see his ailing father, leaving him to care for his cat, Bud, Hank unexpectedly finds himself embroiled in a dangerous situation involving Russian mobsters and two notorious Hasidic brothers.
From the time period to the New York setting, this nods back to Aronofsky’s 1998 debut Pi, but whereas that film mixes lo-fi sci-fi and Lynchian surrealism to explore religion and mathematics, Caught Stealing feels reminiscent of Martin Scorsese’s 1985 black comedy After Hours. For as diverse as New York is, the city is not always presented in a positive light from the poverty displayed on the streets, as well as the crime and corruption that step into Hank’s life.
Huston’s script isn’t attempting to make a political statement about the New York back then and uses the city as a playground for how Hank gets out of sticky situations, where the tone can go from hilarity to intensity. As the film flashes numerous times back to the car accident that changed Hank for the worse, leading to an alcohol problem, it plays into the film’s thematic darkness with death becoming a recurring factor. While that darkness works for the most part, leading to some twisty moments, the tonal whiplash can be hard to stomach with Aronofsky as a director leaning into his unempathetic sensibilities. Even the cat gets injured, for goodness’ sake!
However, another major aspect that makes Caught Stealing a fun ride is the performances, led by Austin Butler. Taking a similar approach to Ryan Gosling, Butler may have the looks and charisma to be a movie star but delivers a performance that is not afraid to show flaws, vulnerability and most importantly humor. With an impressive cast surrounding Butler, you have actors like Matt Smith and Griffin Dunne who really transform themselves in highly comedic turns. It is a shame, however, that despite a great chemistry with Butler, Zoë Kravitz is sadly underused as the worried girlfriend. Tonic who plays Bud the Cat actually has more to do.
