Pain is the overarching theme of Darren Aronofsky’s filmography. Some of Aronofsky’s films crystallized societal anxieties, as Requiem for a Dream offered an uncensored perspective on serial drug addiction, and The Fountain tackled the insurmountable heartbreak of losing a partner. This intensity has extended to the behind-the-scenes tales, as Natalie Portman’s painstaking ballet training for Black Swan and Mickey Rourke’s notoriously “difficult” method acting in The Wrestler earned as much attention as the films themselves. Aronofsky’s decision to make a dark comedy crime thriller in the vein of Snatch or Lucky Number Slevin seemed like an unusual choice, particularly after the surprising acclaim he earned for The Whale. Aronofsky can never be accused of compromising his vision.
Caught Stealing is an adaptation of the novel by Charlie Huston, with Austin Butler in the lead role of the former high school baseball star Hank Thompson. Set in 1998 (the same year Aronofsky’s directorial debut Pi was released), Caught Stealing is about what happens when a smooth-talking tough guy is caught up in the type of twisty caper that could only exist in the movies. Hank’s only true passion is for the New York Giants and his girlfriend Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz), who’s frustrated by his lack of ambition. After a promise is made to his rowdy neighbor Russ (Matt Smith), Hank is tasked with the repossession of a stolen stack of cash, targeted by players in the New York underworld.
Caught Stealing is a film of desensitization; Aronofsky has offered a reminder of what audiences have taken for granted in fiction. Hank’s bludgeoned by ruthless Russian gangsters. While a case of mistaken identities and lost cash may have been a source of comedic relief had Caught Stealing been directed by Guy Ritchie, Aronofsky’s assertion is that this scenario would be a waking nightmare for a character like Hank. Hank has clung on to his Giants fandom as the one all-consuming aspect of his personality, as he isn’t able to recall anything else from his past without visceral memories of the moment his life’s potential was collapsed. Although Aronofsky isn’t interested in an overworked depiction of trauma, a subject too often focused on by younger filmmakers, the brief flashes of what Hank has kept hidden are uncomfortably direct.
Despite the realism that Aronofsky brought to films like Requiem for a Dream or The Wrestler, Caught Stealing is set within a larger-than-life version of New York, in which chaos and intrigue is lurking behind any street corner; there are a few direct nods to Martin Scorsese’s dark comedy After Hours, and Griffin Dunne has a brief cameo. Even if it’s ridiculous that Hank would be faced with so much misfortune within a brief window of time, the hurdles he’s faced with feel realistic in a city composed of warring factions.
Due to the extended moments of torture and emotional manipulation, Caught Stealing’s wackier moments are rewarding, even if they ascribe to the same madcap logic. The film’s gangsters are buffoons with access to weapons, as they lack the resources found in most cinematic mob families. The New York Police Department of Caught Stealing is more of an annoyance than a conspiracy. Regina King’s Detective Roman is always a few steps too late to exert any real authority. Even the Jewish hitmen Shmully (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Lipa (Liev Schreiber) lack the experience needed to handle the situation, as even a simple interrogation is plagued by amateur mistakes. Hank may have been able to outsmart just one group of villains, but he’s not able to avoid tough choices when the entire city is seemingly stacked against him.
Caught Stealing is surprisingly nostalgic, with clever needle drops and references to the 1998 World Series at Yankee Stadium. It’s a vehicle for Butler’s burgeoning movie stardom, as he’s proven to be one of the few young actors who matched the charisma of Paul Newman, Harrison Ford, or Robert Redford. Hank isn’t necessarily an anti-hero, but he’s a character whose non-confrontational attitude and willingness to accept mediocrity could’ve been aggravating.
If Aronofsky’s more recent films Noah, Mother!, and The Whale were all exasperatingly self-serious, Caught Stealing is made with so little pretension that it could be seen as a response to that criticism. Nothing about the plot is so important that Aronofsky can’t take a detour to show Hank’s struggles to take care of Russ’ cat, check in on the playoff score, or give Carol Kane room to do a five-minute bit as an elderly woman who can only speak Yiddish. Even if the romantic moments between Butler and Kravitz are patiently observational, Caught Stealing is nearly operatic when the streets of New York are uprooted by a daring goose chase. The unapologetic sentimentality isn’t in conflict with the maniacal destruction. While Caught Stealing could’ve been an average potboiler had its director reigned himself in, the film’s instances of transgressiveness suggest that Aronofsky got away with a personal escapade wrapped in a familiar blanket.