"CAUGHT STEALING" - REVIEW

A healthy theatrical filmgoing ecosystem needs a wide variety of movies by a wide variety of filmmakers. August is often known as the time of year in which, like January and February, the studios would put out films that are smaller and riskier, films they had less faith in, perhaps mediocre… or, for one reason or another, were just plain “bad” (although I do not believe that anyone, be it a filmmaker or a studio, sets out to make a bad film). It’s that time in between big box office draws earning solidly and the upcoming onslaught of films associated with awards season, and audiences choosing to squeeze as much as they can from the remaining weeks of summer. Sometimes, August gives certain acclaimed “awards season” filmmakers a chance to have some late summer fun.

Enter Darren Aronofsky, whose films include PI, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, THE FOUNTAIN, THE WRESTLER, BLACK SWAN, NOAH, MOTHER!, and THE WHALE. His formidable films are cerebral, textural, visceral, experimental, experiential, disturbing, and sometimes just plain difficult. His work is often set or filmed in and around New York City. He is a filmmaker unafraid to explore  techniques to envelop you in the psyche of tormented souls on the brink, who often undergo tremendous physical transformations along with their emotional strife. He has an impressive track record of working with actors who, under his direction, have been nominated for Oscars (Ellen Burstyn for REQUIEM, Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei for THE WRESTLER, Hong Chau for THE WHALE) or have deservedly won them (Natalie Portman for BLACK SWAN, Brendan Fraser for THE WHALE), and for thinking outside the box with casting (Marlon Wayans in REQUIEM and Kristin Wiig in MOTHER! immediately spring to mind as comedians not doing comedy). In short, Arronofsky’s films are most certainly “award seasoned” and, even in the case of the more entertaining ones, are almost never exactly fun to watch.

Now enter CAUGHT STEALING, which follows Hank Thompson (a refreshingly unadorned Austin Butler, who is in every scene and absolutely carries the movie), a Bay Area native and a former baseball player with a tragic past, now tending bar at a seedy dive in the Lower East Side of Manhattan run by Paul (Griffin Dunne, in one of the film’s many nods to Martin Scorsese’s 1985 cult classic AFTER HOURS). Hank is loaded with charisma at the bar, talks baseball stats every day on the phone with his mom, drinks like a fish, and enjoys a hot relationship with paramedic Yvonne (Zoe Kravitz, charming and alluring)… but he is definitely not living up to his potential, and running from the pain of his tragedy, which seems to jolt him awake each day. The film kicks into gear when his leathered, mohawked Brit punk neighbor Russ (an unrecognizable Matt Smith) quite suddenly asks Hank to take care of his cat right before flying to London. This simple task quickly gets Hank in over his head once a parade of bad guys and worse guys start showing up at Russ‘s door, with Hank caught in their crossfire. This parade includes unhinged Russian goons (Nikita Kukushkin and Yuri Kolokonikov), a Hell’s Kitchen detective (Regina King), a power-hungry Puerto Rican gangster (Benito Martinez Ocasio, aka rapper Bad Bunny), and a pair of Hasidic hitmen (Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio)—all in pursuit of whatever Russ is hiding, if only Hank knew what that was. As Yvonne, who wants to take their relationship to the next level, calmly asks, is Hank someone “who can handle his s***?”

So what does a director like Aronofsky, with such a dour worldview and such a serious filmography, bring to a pulpy lark like CAUGHT STEALING?

Working from a screenplay by Charlie Huston (adapting his own novel), Aronofsky brings his strengths for impeccable, inspired, and pitch-perfect casting, blending luminaries with legends (Carol Kane even shows up for a couple of terrific scenes), exciting up-and-comers, and people getting to play against type (only a surprise cameo during a mid-credit scene feels out of place). He brings his keen observational eye, which imbues this New York City of 1998 (courtesy of production designer Mark Friedberg) with a grit and grime that you can almost smell and feel. He also brings his veteran creative partners—cinematographer Matthew Libatique and editor Andrew Wiseblum—to keep this propulsive narrative moving at a terse clip as it rounds the bases all around New York City, all souped-up by a score by Rob Simonsen and performed by Idles.

And yet, at the end of the day, it is still ultimately an Aronofsky film. Always a risk taker, he makes a leap to a true piece of entertainment, and makes what should’ve translated to a darkly comic late-August romp on the page (a la Guy Ritchie) feel like getting coldcocked with a lead pipe. I guess there is something admirable about a filmmaker who takes the consequences of violence seriously, but Aronofsky can’t help himself, often leaning too far into brutality, effectively hobbling the film. I don’t get a sense that he loves or even likes these characters, even Hank. Hell, even the cat.

I went back and forth about writing this review at all, because I often seek to champion films that I love, and this one gets so close to being fun that it’s frustrating, and worth talking about. It’s a case of mismatched material and treatment of that material. By weighing down the proceedings in real-life consequences played out in often harrowing, grisly detail, you would then expect this movie to go to deeper personal places as well, but those revelations remain just below the surface of the plot all the way to the end, and by the time that happens, Aronofsky is so far around the diamond that he better steal home plate, but is perhaps unable or unwilling to let us really feel and celebrate that victory.

#moviefriend

#thezlistwithzachhammill

#darrenaronofsky

#austinbutler

#zoekravitz

#mattsmith

#vincentdonofrio

#lievschreiber

#reginaking

#nikitakukushkin

#yurikolokonikov

#carolkane

#griffindunne

#badbunny

#charliehuston

Zach is a proud member of the Minnesota Film Critics Association (MNFCA). For more info about Zach, the organization, or to read other great reviews from other great Minnesota-based film critics, click here: https://mnfilmcriticalliance.wordpress.com/