The Whale filmmaker, Darren Aronofsky directs his new film Caught Stealing with Austin Butler (Elvis,2022) in the lead role as Hank. A talented baseball player in his younger years, the athlete had a promising career in New York, and now he is a bartender. The handsome and kind young man has some charisma and yet in his dreams, we see there is more to his story. His performance is a great one to showcase his wide range of acting skills as a follow up to the Elvis and The Bikeriders roles (both of which I enjoyed). He has had other smaller roles since and worth viewing, but this will also be a memorable one, especially for fans of crime thrillers with some dark comedy to boot. The film is based on Charlie Huston’s 2004 novel, who also wrote the screenplay for the film.
Hank Thompson’s neighbor, Russ (Matt Smith), asks him to watch his cat for a few days while he is gone across the pond. In his efforts to be an agreeable neighbor, he unknowingly ends up thrown into the underground world of crime that Russ is associated with. Unfortunately, Hank pays a price for being in the wrong place at the wrong time when visitors come looking for Russ. He lands in the hospital and his girl, Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz) tries to nurse him back to health, including avoiding alcohol and check on the cat. Hank’s other neighbor seems to keep an eye on what goes on in the hallway but stays indoors peeking from the doorway to not get involved. His job is “building websites” (as he describes it) and the couple have fun mocking him.
The mohawked Brit punk neighbor returns from London and soon finds out the darker elements he is involved with are hunting him down. The pair of Russian gang skinheads (Yuri Kolokolnikov, Nikita Kukushkin) who banged on Russ’ door and beat Hank do not stay away. They are also looking closely at who Hank associates with/ who his family is. Hank does worry about Yvonne, but also his mama in California who he speaks to every day. There is a strong mama/son bond, and they end every call with “Go Giants!”
Aside from the Russian mob, Detective Roman (Regina King) in charge of his brutal beating case, Colorado (Benito Martínez Ocasio, aka Bad Bunny in his music career), and a pair of Orthodox Jewish brothers (Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio) all seem to know Russ and the shenanigans he has going on. It is best not to describe how they know Russ and need to get to him, so as not to spoil the fun of watching the film. Of note, Carole Kane stars as Bubbe, and although her scene is short in this story, she is perfect for her character as are all the supporting cast listed above. Way to go Regina King!!
I don’t recall a dull moment in this action-filled feature film and highly recommend it.
Rated R by the Motion Picture Association for strong violent content, pervasive language, some sexuality/nudity and brief drug use. Running time: 107 minutes. Nationwide in theaters on Aug. 29, and some theaters offer evening options on Thursday, August 28.
Source: Columbia Pictures
###