Time: 107 Minutes
Age Rating: R16– Violence, offensive language, drug use & content that may disturb
Cast:
Austin Butler as Henry “Hank” Thompson
Matt Smith as Russ Miner
Regina King as Det. Elise Roman
Zoë Kravitz as Yvonne
Liev Schreiber as Lipa Drucker
Vincent D’Onofrio as Shmully Drucker
Benito Martínez Ocasio as Colorado
Griffin Dunne as Paul
Carol Kane as Bubbe
Director: Darren Aronofsky

Darren Aronofsky’s most recent movies had been amongst his most divisive, with mother! and The Whale. His latest movie however appeared to be something a little more conventional, a genre crime thriller called Caught Stealing. I quite liked it, and while he’s certainly made much better films, I found it to be his best movie in quite some time.

Caught Stealing is a fairly simple and familiar thriller, but was nonetheless entertaining and tense. It is far darker and meaner than the trailers made it look, with an undercurrent of bleakness. Still, it is lighthearted by Aronofsky standards and has a fair bit of dark comedy, even if the tonal shifts can feel very stark. There is one moment some way into the movie that I was not a fan of, but I do know that Caught Stealing was based on a book and in fact the script was written by its author, but it was disappointing all the same when it did happen.

Austin Butler is great and charismatic and makes for a compelling and engaging protagonist who carries the movie well. His character is put through the wringer multiple times and carries a lot of baggage and guilt, and Butler conveys all of this really well. The supporting cast is great too, Zoe Kravitz is really good, and shares great chemistry with Butler. Regina King, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio are also really solid in their parts.

Darren Aronofsky directs this quite well. It’s not as impressive as his work on Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream or The Fountain, but he still does a lot here. Caught Stealing is firmly set in the 90s and really does convey the grittiness of the era and setting. It’s also great and energetic with its cinematography, which especially shines in its more tense sequences.

Caught Stealing is a solid, gritty, engaging, darkly comic, and well directed thriller with a great cast, led by an amazing Austin Butler.