Caught Stealing (dir. Darren Aronofsky)

By: Adam Freed

Prior to the world-halting events of September 11, 2001, New York City was as self absorbed as any major metropolis.  Its denizens were caught in a rat race, desperately reaching for the next invisible rung on the ladder of prosperity.  For Hank Thompson, a former baseball prospect with a penchant for hard partying and limited expectations, Manhattan’s Lower East Side was the type of perilous playground waiting to consume him.  Based on Charlie Huston’s 2004 novel of the same name, Caught Stealing is a watchable, albeit mildly disjointed ensemble thriller directed by genre legend Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Whale).  Now an oft hungover bartender, Hank mistakenly finds himself at the center of a dangerous swirl of undesirable personalities when his neighbor Russ (Matt Smith) leaves Hank with some unwanted cargo, Thompson finds himself in the crosshairs of a situation that he had no idea existed.

Hank, a California kid with a megawatt smile and piercing azure eyes is cast perfectly in the form of Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two, Elvis).  Butler has played historically icy, rarely known to radiate the gravitational warmth needed to capture the scarred former athlete, so to witness the heartthrob’s interpretation of Hank Thompson is an exciting expansion of the young performer’s growing range.  Thanks to Butler’s convincing performance, there is a forgivable quality to Hank’s self-inflicted messiness.  That same attractive quality leaves room for believability when it comes to Thompson’s love interest Yvonne, a diminutive hard-edged, paramedic played lustily by an incendiary Zoë Kravitz (Blink Twice, The Batman). Kravitz and Butler, who spend a good portion of their screen time together semi-nude, leave little to the imagination of what physical traits bond the two characters.  In addition to Kravitz, Aronofsky’s crime thriller is blessed with an impressive ensemble of performers that includes the aforementioned Matt Smith (The Crown), Regina King (Ray), Liev Schreiber (Spotlight), and Vincent D’Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket).  It should come as no surprise that such a gifted ensemble of performers would jump at the chance to work with the storied director in Aronofsky.  The director serves his cast slightly better than the somewhat shaggy plot of Caught Stealing, a film that bears the disjointed weight of its literary adaptation.

From Manhattan to Queens, Chinatown to Coney Island, late 90’s New York is an immersive backdrop for the middling crime story.  Aronofsky isn’t shy about allowing the digitally recreated World Trade Center towers to adorn New York’s skyline, a nostalgic reminder of a time when the big apple felt unconcerned with the events of the outside world. Within the goliath metropolitan grid, the criminal underworld that Hank mistakenly finds himself facing is little more than a plot contrivance until Hasidic brothers Shmully (D’Oforio) and Lipa (Schreiber) add a wonderful plot punch as the devout and dynamic villains.  Darren Aronofsky has certainly experienced his share of highs and lows over the decades, and Caught Stealing finds itself notably somewhere in between.  Offering just enough by way of performance and ambiance, this adaptation of Charlie Huston’s novel will most likely watch like a distant memory.

Target Score 6/10 -  Austin Butler, a slew of compelling ensemble performances, and an inspired depiction of late 20th century New York never overcome a script caught in the grips of mediocrity.  Darren Aronofsky films are almost always worthy of exploration, but Caught Stealing is just interesting enough to consider, and just as easy to forget.