Darren Aronofsky’s “Caught Stealing” is an action-adventure taking place in 1998 New York. We follow a young baseball fanatic Hank Thompson who was injured when he was younger and can no longer play. Hank spends his time bartending at the local bar, hanging out with his girlfriend Yvonne, and watching baseball in his apartment. All is normal in Hank’s life until his neighbor Russ asks him to watch his cat and some very dangerous people come knocking thinking Hank is Russ. Hank will now need to deal with the repercussions of being involved in his neighbor’s dangerous life.
The film being set in a 90’s New York adds so much flavor, making New York feel like its own character. This movie is very much inspired by directors like Spike Lee with his love for New York adding a 90’s nostalgia flare. Compared to Aronofsky’s past work with movies like “Requiem For a Dream and Black Swan”, “Caught Stealing” is a complete 180 in tone. Aronofsky has stated in interviews that he wanted to do a fun action movie and definitely delivered with that. The setting immediately sets the tone for the story you are about to witness with the pacing and editing keep you interested the whole hour and 47 minutes. The costumes of every character reflect their personality with Hank wearing whatever is in front of him that day, Yvonne wearing luxurious coats and shoes, Russ and his punk-rock look, to the Russians in their track-suits.
Austin Butler came on to the scene with his break-out role as Elvis Presley and has since proven that he is one of the strongest actors to come out of this new generation. He continues to prove that with his role as Hank Thompson in “Caught Stealing.” His screen presence is very unique with him feeling so open to us, the audience yet so reserved. We feel like we know everything about this guy in the first 20 minutes until the layers of his past start to peel back throughout the story. Zoë Kravitz gives a lot to this role like she does with everything she’s in and has so much chemistry with Butler. The both of them make their on screen relationship so much more believable. One stand out for me was Matt Smith as Russ. I’ve never seen him do a role like this before as a punk-rocker with the biggest mohawk possible giving it his all. Bad Bunny was another awesome performance to watch, mostly because I had no idea he was an actor on top of his very successful music career.
The film has a lot of hand-held camera action making you feel like you’re right next to the main characters, running through New York with them. Along with the wide shots of the city streets, the camera movements in “Caught Stealing” make it feel like the city is truly alive and it’s own character. The lighting is perfect throughout and sets the tone for every scene like when he’s fighting in his apartment hallway. It’s supposed to feel gross and intense which the lighting really helps with. The editing is very fast paced at times and very smooth. It truly keeps you reeled in to the action.
I really enjoyed the idea of the average guy becoming the hero of a story which Aronofsky has stated was his idea for this movie. And the themes of running from your past made the story very interesting. Although, the movie did feel like it was ready to wrap up quite a few times at the end.
My pomegranate seed rating is 4/5.
