Set during the 1990s in the Lower East Side of New York City, former baseball player Henry ‘’Hank’’ Thompson (played by Austin Butler) works as a bartender after a fatal car crash during his teen years crippled any chances of him going big. After begrudgingly accepting to cat-sit for his British punk-rock neighbour, Russ (played by Matt Smith) after being convinced by his girlfriend, Yvonne (played by Zoë Kravitz) Hank is viciously beaten by two Russian mobsters who appear to be looking for Russ. After being informed by narcotics police detective, Elsie Roman (played by Regina King) that Russ was a drug dealer and is being targeted by gangs he stole from, Hank finds a key hidden in the cat’s litter box, making him the prime target for the Russian mobsters, their Puerto Rican associate, Colorado (played by Bad Bunny) and the incredibly vicious Hasidic brothers, Lipa and Shmully Drucker (played by Live Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio). Forced into a situation he had nothing to do with, Hank and the cat (named Bud) will need to maneuverer violent attack after violent attack and resolve the conflict in order to survive.
CAUGHT STEALING is a magnetic film that while not containing the most gripping narrative, sucks you into its predictable drama with solid scripting, a gritty atmosphere, punchy directing and a very colorful ensemble.
Based on the first book in a series written by Charlie Huston, the story about a passive everyman being thrown into a chaotic gang war is the right amount of crazy and dramatic to work as a crime film with a hint of comedic edge, and with Huston acting as the film’s screenwriter, the source feels cleanly translated, with minimal altercations, smooth pacing, and a trajectory that’s stronger than anticipated. While the story contains a standard outline, character types and scenarios, it isn’t always easy to predict and will throw a few curveballs at the audience to keep them on edge, which is where this film shines the most.
While the trailers promised a tone that could be tense, but also playful, CAUGHT STEALING almost weaponizes that assumption by providing some genuinely brutal and intimidating sequences that don’t overwhelm with violence and gore, but display enough frantic distress and cold hard reality to snap people back into fear-mode when they get too comfortable with an out-of-pocket lighter moment.
This strangely comfortable tonal combination comes not only from Huston (who is known for writing stories, characters and worlds that blend genres) but also because of director, Darren Aronofsky, who is known for making surreal, dramatic films that frequently involve psychological realism to provoke a disturbing response, and despite this film ironically being one of his ‘’lighter’’ outings, it still caries that foreboding sense of dread that suck you into the predicament even more.
It’s paced very well, the actors work off each other fantastically, the environment has a lot of character, the script may not fully come together as some arcs and cinematic metaphors don’t feel entirely complete, but are noticeable and effective on paper, and while the specifics surrounding what’s actually going on are sadly not as interesting as the build-up, the whole experience is still a fun ride that won’t be easily forgotten.
With the trailers effectively presenting its cast in a vibrant and cool fashion, it’s nice that this ensemble made up of fairly prominent actors works with this blended style very nicely. Most of them are known for being colorful performers who can be incredibly charming and dramatic when they need to be, and the chemistry that’s developed when any of them interact is very strong, making these relationships (however straightforward they may be) feel very genuine.
Austin Butler has been building a steady career after his Oscar-nominated leading performance in Elvis, and while not doing anything dramatically challenging in this feature, he’s able to act as the grounded centre in a world of colorful side characters and commands the screen very smoothly. Giving off strong James Dean vibes as the troubled yet sensitive leading man, Butler is the right amount of flustered and determined to create a protagonist that you genuinely feel bad for but are also invested in as he deals with his past traumas and is forced to confront his dark side when pushed against the wall by a bunch of selfish criminals.
Zoë Kravitz brings a lot of spunk to a pretty basic part and shares really good chemistry with Butler, and Matt Smith is glorious as the character of Russ, with his unsubtle attire, vocabulary and vulgarity allowing him to be the only true sense of levity in a pretty cruel environment. Regina King is great as the detective with many shades of grey to her, Bad Bunny is fairly one-note as one of the mobsters, but acts well enough in his limited screentime, Carol Kane has a small but memorable cameo as the grandmother to the Hasidic brothers, Live Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio use their personable yet intimidating personas cleverly as the brothers as you never know whether they’re well-meaning or truly vicious, Yuri Kolokolnikov and Nikita Kukushkin as the Russian mobsters are in a similar boat of sharing a form of comedic banter that is undercut by their pretty scary presence, and while the cat only acts as a means of getting the plot going, his involvement will cater to many pet-adoring audience members (who’ll get a visceral reaction when they see it injured)
Given the striking cruelness behind this film’s violence and visuals, you’d imagine the surrounding atmosphere and location would reflect this kind of presentation, and it does in ways. The overall production design by Mark Freidberg does a great job emulating the look of this specific portion of New York City and Manhattan, capturing its lower-class, multicultural aesthetic very smoothly by dotting various stores and workers in the background. Without screaming it, it acts as a perfect setting for this story about people feeling stuck and left behind by time, sometimes doing bad things in order to drown out the sorrow of a morose existence.
While that sounds depressing, the lively nature of the population plus the grimy yet hardworking feel of the environment makes it a nice setting for this film. Given the movie is within the crime thriller genre, you’d imagine the cinematography would be very unpolished and down-to-earth to reflect that, and yet this only rarely occurs. A lot of the imagery is surprisingly clean, well-angled and almost a little too elaborate, which is ironically something that cinematographer, Matthew Litatique, has been guilty of in past projects, delivering shots and angles that are almost too good for the movie he’s attached to.
This isn’t to say all of the fancy camera work is poor or that some of the imagery created isn’t eye-catching or like something ripped out of a graphic novel, but for the story it’s telling, a more subdued approached may’ve been the better option. With the aggressive angle on clear display right from the get go by having the twin towers be their literal first shot, this attitude is also reflected within the music, with a score by Rob Simonsen and British pop-punk band, Idles, that doesn’t have enough of a distinct identity to really stand out, but leans into its hyperactive energy and can hype up a moment when used correctly.
CAUGHT STEALING’S short theatrical run and fairly minute box office may be indicative of audience’s interest, but it’s nice that the critical reception proved correct as this movie is engaging, thrilling and even if slightly simple, isn’t as basic as would be believed. It won’t surprise at every turn or offer anything that new, but through great direction that balances the dark and light aspects of this story surprisingly well, good scripting that provides colourful dialogue and fun deviations in an otherwise straightforward crime plot, really good performance that ooze charisma and chemistry, and a presentation that’s ironically too nice looking, but still come across as appealing, it proves to be a swing that resulted in a solid third base.
