A Messy Good Time

(110625) Caught Stealing is a goofy, funny, brutal, profane, and delightfully off-the-wall thriller that depicts a collision between punk rock, the Russian Mafia, and Hasidic Jewish culture. It is like a cross-cultural Quentin Tarantino-esque film, filled with exciting car chases, gleeful torture scenes, and an absurdist sense of humor. It might not be great art, but it is the most enjoyable piece of pure cinematic trash I've seen so far this season. It has a rollicking, riveting script by Charlie Huston, who adapted it from his novel of the same name. He is best known for his Joe Pitt Casebook novel series, but comic fans might remember him because he had a well-received run on the Moon Knight (2006-2007) comic series, as well as Wolverine: The Best There Is (2010-2012), which had exquisite art by Juan Jose Ryp. He also helped write the Fox TV show Gotham (2014-2019), and he is supposed to help script the upcoming streaming version of Arcadia.

The film was directed by Darren Aronofsky, who early on, showed as much promise as anyone in American cinema. Since then his contemporaries like Christopher Nolan and Paul Thomas Anderson, who started making films around the same time, have stolen some of his thunder. This is at least partially due to the uneven nature of his oeuvre. This film actually has quite a few similarities to Anderson’s most recent film, One Battle Over Another, which is also excellent. Look for my review of that film on these pages soon. Although Aronofsky’s films have mostly been intelligent and creative, he often falls just short of greatness. His best films include: Pi (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), the Wrestler  (2008), and The Whale (2022). Conversely 2017's Mother (2017) played like a too-long episode of the Twilight Zone.  The Fountain (2006), and Noah (2014) both work less well-although each had their moments. His creative and commercial zenith is arguably the psychological thriller, Black Swan (2010), which I picked as the best film of that year- however sometimes I like Pi better. I found him to be a fascinating and clever interview subject when I interviewed him a few years back: Darren Aronofsky Interview/Story – ART INTERVIEWS

Caught Stealing has some of the most inspired casting of the year. Austin Butler and Zoe Kravitz, who previously appeared together in Dune, might be the best-looking screen couple I’ve seen in ages. The unusually fine and somewhat bizarre supporting cast is unusually good, quirky, and varied, including Matt (Doctor Who) Smith, Carol (Taxi) Kane, Liev Schriever, Vincent (Daredevil) D’Onofrio, and, believe it or not, the Puerto Rican R&B star, Bad Bunny, who is scheduled to perform in this years Super Bowl Half-Time Show. However, its Austin Butler who remains one of the most promising and dynamic actors in Hollywood, and he always elevates his material, often making his films better than they are. Some of his career highlights include Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), Elvis (2022), The Bike Riders (2023), Dune Part 2 (2024), and Eddington (2025). Looking over the list, I was struck by how many good films he has done in such a relatively short period of time.

Butler plays Hank, a former football player turned bartender who did not make it to the majors due to an injury. He spends his days drinking too much and constantly brooding over his failed career. He leads a pathetic, boring life almost completely devoid of excitement, direction, or purpose. Then, like many of Hitchcock’s everyman characters, he gets involved in a crime plot by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The film also features a MacGuffin about a key to a mysterious lock-another Hitchcockian  trope.

The one bright spot in Hank’s life is Yvonne, his empathic, beautiful, almost perfect girlfriend, played by Zoe Kravitz (daughter of Lisa Bonnet and Lenny Kravitz), who does everything she can for him, even though she and her girlfriends all realize that she is probably too good for him. Comic fans might recall that Kravitz previously played Angel Salvador in X-Men First Class (2011), Catwoman in The Batman (2022), and voiced Mary Jane Watson in Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse (2018). Both films were better for her participation,

Hank has a mohawk-wearing punk neighbor named Russ (Matt Smith), who is a complete lowlife. Hank reluctantly agrees to watch his cat while he goes to England. This is without a doubt, the worst decision of his life. This gets him involved with both Russian and Hasidic Jewish gangsters who regularly beat him up to obtain the location of the key that he has no knowledge of. It turns out that his neighbor had stolen drug money from several crime gangs, and they will do anything, including killing and torture, to get it back. As if his life was not complicated enough, he’s also pursued by a Police Officer (Regina King) who may or may not be on the side of the good guys,

Some of the most humorous moments include two Hassidic Jewish assassins (played by Liev Schreiber and Vincent D'Onofrio) who look hilarious, with long beards, toting huge machine guns. Despite the fact that they are ruthless, cold-blooded killers, they are quite likable (unlike the Russian mobsters). They particularly show their human side when they have dinner with Hank at their mom’s house. She is played by Carol Kane who gives a delightful performance. The sequence reminds me of the Goodfellas scene in which Pesci’s and De Niro’s characters have dinner at his mom’s house while a dying man is bleeding in the trunk. The scenes work brilliantly because you can tell the directors grew up in the cultures they portray.

Caught Stealing takes place in 1999, but it might as well have been a century ago given the technological changes that have occurred since then. It includes many pop songs from that era, including selections from Semisonic, Madonna, as well as songs by the Buzzcocks, and a nifty cover of Police and Thieves by the punk-influenced band, The Idles. They played at Riot Fest last year and are phenomenally popular in England, but they have hardly dented the US Billboard charts. Aronofsky has long been fascinated by punk and post-punk rock, and he has included many punk songs in his soundtracks. Zoe Kravitz, who worked with Aronofsky several times, said: “his films, Mother and Black Swan, are like punk rock for women.”

The film did not do well at the box office during its theatrical run, however it is currently streaming on a couple of platforms (see below). I suspect the film was a bit too wacky and weird to attract a wide audience. But I highly recommended for fans of the Coen Brothers and Tarantino’s crime films, as well as anyone who shares Aronofsky’s interests in Jewish mysticism and punk. I know I had a blast watching it.