Caught Stealing (2025)

Darren Aronofsky has a, shall we say, interesting filmography. Say what you will about his movies, but they’re often distinctive and full of oddball characters in oddly extreme situations. So, imagine my surprise the first time I saw a trailer for his latest movie, Caught Stealing. It looked…conventional. Like, sure, there were some oddball characters, but it looked like a standard action-thriller with a good touch of humor sprinkled throughout. Aronofsky made this? A movie where Austin Butler’s bartender character matches wits with various underworld criminals? It looked like some kind of action movie.

As it is, it’s nothing like that. Is it good anyway?

Hank Thompson (Butler), a one-time baseball prospect whose career was cut short by a car crash, is essentially enjoying his life in New York City. It’s 1998. His beloved San Francisco Giants are in the playoff hunt. His girlfriend Yvonne (Zoe Kravitz) is maybe interested in taking their relationship to the next level. Sure, he has a drinking problem, but he’s basically a good guy who sends his mother money when he can and treats Yvonne well. OK, he doesn’t much care for cats, so it’s not a great thing when his punk rock British neighbor Russ (Matt Smith) asks him to watch his cat. Hank may not care for cats, but Yvonne does, and she’s more than happy to bring the cat into Hank’s apartment.

Small problem: the following day, two Russian gangsters show up looking for Russ. Russ went home to England to look after his father when the old man had a stroke. Hank has no idea what these guys want, and these aren’t the sort of guys who accept “I don’t know” as an answer. They beat Hank bad and leave. Things get worse from there. While still recovering from his initial injuries, Hank has to deal with the Russians, a narcotics cop (Regina King), a shifty club owner (Benito Martínez Ocasio), and two Hasidic Jewish brothers (Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio) all seems to want something from Hank. Hank is not a violent man. He doesn’t even drive a car. As things get worse in a world that many characters describe as “broken,” can Hank get himself out of this mess?

So, the trailers suggested this might be some kind of action movie, a crime thriller with some eccentric characters, and the eccentric characters part is true, but as noted, Hank is not a violent man. He mostly seeks to avoid conflict, particularly since he doesn’t really know what’s even going on for most of the movie. If he can extract himself without any trouble, he will. He’s not a man who wants to get involved, and Butler’s natural charisma works well here. He really doesn’t want anyone getting hurt if it can be helped. That’s not to say Hank won’t use violence, but his main motivations seem to be protecting the cat and getting himself out of this mess that Russ got him into.

That seems more like the sort of movie Aronofsky might make. Caught Stealing is still a city-based crime thriller, and it has many moments that feel like ’em, but the way Aronofsky approaches the story is what makes it a bit more unique. It wasn’t what I thought it would be, but it was still a good time at the movies. Just be aware that the trailers for this one might be a wee bit misleading.

Grade: B+