There’s nothing quite as disappointing as a film that – on paper – feels tailor-made for your cinematic sensibilities, but somehow manages to miss the mark in just about every category. A New York City crime/heist thriller filled with mistaken identity, quirky gangsters, guns, drugs and rock n roll from a director I genuinely like with a stacked cast of performers possessing uncontainable magnetism and relentless pacing – “Caught Stealing” has just about everything I enjoy from moves like this. And yet even with all of that I found myself bored out of my mind the whole way through. Even with all the juice behind it and the comfort zone-breakout for Darren Aronofsky, everything in “Caught Stealing” feels so inconsequential and forgettable you barely remember things as they happen and it can’t seem to pair its propulsive energy with any kind of longevity or entertainment value.
It’s frankly confounding for a myriad of reasons, one of which is Aronosvky himself, who seems to have spent most of the last 3 years chronically online reading the backlash from “The Whale” and taking to heart the criticisms of his consistent and rarely subtle biblical allegories. Normally I would applaud a filmmaker with such a distinct style and thematic interest for trying something new, something like “Caught Stealing” that feels nothing like anything else you’ve seen from him. Except that it does, because Aronovsky can’t seem to remove his bleakness and depressive centric storytelling from a generally light on its feet, humorous crime caper. I don’t know if he has sense of humor – at least not the kind fit for a street level underground romp – but he certainly doesn’t know how to meld it with his other, more common tendencies. This film is left in a sort of no mans land of entertainment; sometimes funny enough to chuckle at, sometimes engaging, sometimes deeply sad, but never about or framed as anything those things in particular.
“Caught Stealing” isn’t bad, it just kind of exists and that may be the worse kind of place to be. Austin Butler (who is growing on me the further he gets from “Elvis“) plays Hank, a bartender who used to be an up and coming baseball player until a tragic accident changed his life forever. Living in a dingy apartment filled with frequent romps with his EMT girlfriend Yvonne (the unbelievably stunning Zoe Kravitz) his neighbor Russ (Matt Smith) demands Hank watch his cat so he can fly back to London to see his dad who just had a stroke. The first day Hank goes to feed the cat in Russ’s apartment, gangsters show up demanding to know where Russ is and put him in the hospital. And thus begins Hank’s journey into the underworld, each faction looking for Russ and a secret stash he’s left behind. Hank must now navigate the seedy world to save his life and the lives of his loved ones from the increasingly violent criminals ready to kill everyone to get what they want. “Caught Stealing” also stars Liev Shreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Regina King, Bad Bunny and Carol Kane.
Butler works overtime to carry the film, proving his strength as a leading man and imbueing Hank with all the charm and charisma needed to pull “Caught Stealing” off. I really have been off the Butler train (never really got on if we’re being honest) since his arrival but he’s doing some great work here even if Charlie Huston’s screenplay isn’t helping. Kravitz too just oozes screen appeal, not just for her drop dead gorgeous looks but her innate ability to command every frame with merely her presence. The rest of the cast are used rather sparringly and aren’t given enough to do outside of their brief collisions with Hank and sometimes each other. The real weak link here is sadly Regina King, who again isn’t bad but just wrong for the role. Nothing she does feels believable even in an unbelievable world like “Caught Stealing” exists in, and though I am fan of her work it’s just not the place or person she should be here.
It is possible to be pessimistic and bleak while also being funny and light – this is what black comedies are for – but Aronovsky just doesn’t know how to do both together, each tonal shift in “Caught Stealing” undercutting the other. We should be riveted by a car chase in a minivan through the city streets as a concussed Matt Smith shouts in a thick cockney accent. Instead, we’re left unsure how to feel because Aronovsky doesn’t know himself what he wants to invoke from his audience.
All of “Caught Stealing” is like this, and there just isn’t enough sense made of what it all means so it ends up meaning nothing at all. Truthfully, we’d be better off if it just picked one or the other – full absurdist action comedy or dark and gritty crime drama with emotional weight. This film wants us to believe its a popcorn flick with a point, and in its desperation to be too many things to too many people it ends up failing at both.
“Caught Stealing” may be forgivable for some, and I can’t in good faith sit here and tell you it’s a bad movie. It’s well shot, well performed (mostly), decently constructed and has all the makings to be a fun time at the theater.
Unfortunately, very little worked for me and it was “Caught Stealing” my attention which I promptly took back as soon as the credits rolled. Did love the cat, though. Great cat performance.
“Caught Stealing” is in theaters August 29th. You can watch the trailer below.
