What I appreciate about movies like Caught Stealing is their ability to take the audience along on a wild ride. It doesn’t require much from its audience, unlike most movies. Just sit there and watch as the characters try to wiggle their way out of the problems they make.
Darren Aronofsky’s latest film is a fun, raucous caper that does not burden the audience with a heavy plot. Instead, it introduces us to characters that slowly endear themselves to us — characters that make decisions (mostly foolish ones) that push the plot forward. Hank (Austin Butler), for one, didn’t start out as rootable. Or that could just be me. Maybe it’s because he’s disheveled, grimy, and has that good-for-nothing–ish vibe. But once he gets beaten up by goons for reasons he struggle to figure out, you can’t help but feel for the guy.
So, as he runs across New York City, with his neighbor’s (Matt Smith) cat, we start to rally behind him. Mainly because why the heck is he being chased and beaten up by thugs when he clearly didn’t do anything wrong? Well, he is kind of a jerk to his girlfriend Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz). Other than that, he seems like a great guy.
Throughout his ordeal, we get glimpses of his past. Flashes of memories tell us he used to be a promising baseball player who got into a career-ending accident. This trauma haunts him in his present life. For one, he has never been behind the wheel since, which sucks for his current situation.
One highlights of the film is the depth Butler puts into his performance. While he is mostly either being beaten up or eluding capture, you’ll see pain, fear, and regret in his eyes when he experiences these flashbacks. The supporting cast is just as commendable. Regina King lends her wit as Detective Elise Roman. Tasked to help keep Hank safe and take down the thugs running after him, Detective Roman is ambiguous. Is she really serious in helping out Hank? She seems to not believe the young man. Is she someone we trust? There’s something about the way she talks that makes it hard to trust her.
Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio were initially unrecognizable as the Drucker brothers, two dangerous thugs who are also hunting down Hank. They’re merciless killers but are devoted sons; fearless in the face of firing bullets yet scared of upsetting their mother.
It’s these small touches that make the characters a bit more interesting. Even Colorado (Bad Bunny) and his henchmen got some degree of charisma that can be disarming.
The movie doesn’t let up, which means the audience is always on edge. Things get really violent. Which is another pleasant quality of the movie. It is gritty and unflinching in its depiction of 90s New York City. Not only that, the cinematography is impressive. Despite the film’s dark nature, Matthew Libatique was able to add a touch of lightness and softness to it, which is good because with the way the movie ends up, we kind of want something a little less dark.
Caught Stealing is violent, chaotic, but thoroughly enjoyable.
