Darren Aronofsky Takes a Detour in Hyperviolent ‘Caught Stealing’

Darren Aronofsky Takes a Detour in Hyperviolent ‘Caught Stealing’

By Alex McPherson

As it descends further into chaos, director Darren Aronofsky’s crime thriller “Caught Stealing” becomes increasingly muddled; it’s a grimy, mean-spirited film that’s effective in spurts but remains dazed by (literal) hit-or-miss sensibilities.

Based on the book of the same name by Charlie Huston (who also wrote the screenplay), “Caught Stealing” follows 20-something Hank Thompson (Austin Butler), an aimless, alcoholic man tending bar in New York City’s Lower East Side circa 1998.

Hank grew up in a small town in California hoping to become a major league baseball player. At one point years ago, he was close to achieving that dream — but the possibility was shattered when Hank was in a drunk driving accident that resulted in a career-ending knee injury and the death of his teammate.

Cool and sociable, but remaining wracked by a past that he’s too scared to address, Hank carries on well enough in the Big Apple, finding some purpose amid the eccentric clientele of his dive bar, his friends-with-benefits relationship with EMT Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz), and his continued passion for the San Francisco Giants.

Hank’s tenuous stability is threatened by his mohawked, punk-rock neighbor Russ (Matt Smith), who entrusts Hank with caring for his feisty cat, “Bud” (Tonic the Cat), while he visits his ailing father in London. Hank confronts two unhinged Russian mobsters trying to break into Russ’s apartment, and they insist that Russ gave Hank something they want.

Hank is subsequently beaten to a pulp, losing a kidney in the process, along with any hope of peace and safety. Turns out Russ is involved in some shady business with the Russian mob and, more troublingly, the cutthroat Hasidic Drucker brothers (Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio), who — as sympathetic but shady narcotics detective Roman (Regina King) informs him — he does not want to encounter if he wants to make it out alive.

Thus begins a blood-soaked comedy of errors with a high body count, as Hank encounters various idiosyncratic people throughout NYC who could quickly end his life.

When the stakes are tragically raised and a large sum of money comes into the picture, Hank must stand up for himself and fight for those he cares about, in a nihilistic crime thriller that also finds room to be resolutely pro-cat in between the grisly violence and frequent bursts of smugly anarchic humor.

“Caught Stealing” represents a departure from Aronofsky, who previously directed such films as “Black Swan,” “Mother!,” and, most recently, the emotionally cruel “The Whale.”

This film, on the other hand, takes a more traditionally entertaining approach, albeit not shying away from brutal beatdowns, crossfire casualties, and traumatic flashbacks.

Aronofsky maintains a tongue-in-cheek tone throughout the carnage, whisking us along to new, high-stakes scenarios as Hank fumbles his way through an increasingly convoluted story that prioritizes momentum over depth, becoming a compulsively watchable crime genre pastiche with little actual meaning.

Fortunately, the film’s ensemble and tactile stylings lift it above the story’s limitations. Butler is a near-perfect lead here, bringing a swagger belying palpable hurt that lends pathos to a character whose traumas are hammered home with obvious force.

Aronofsky and cinematographer Matthew Libatique keep the camera close to Butler, his facial expressions highlighting Hank’s “evolution” in a richer way than the screenplay affords.

Butler’s raw physicality and vulnerability suit the character well, making Hank’s repeated near-death escapes and ability to withstand gratuitous punishment easier to buy into, if only just.

Butler and Kravitz also have red-hot chemistry, particularly in the beginning when Aronofsky lets us sit with these characters for a bit before things spiral out of control. Smith gets time to shine as the perpetually disoriented, live-wire Russ, who slings a near-constant stream of obscenities and has a rather jumpy trigger finger.

Other turns from King, rapper-turned-actor Bad Bunny, and, especially Schreiber and D’Onofrio (clearly relishing their roles) help keep energy high and the film intermittently amusing through its twists and turns. 

“Caught Stealing” doesn’t have the patience to flesh out these characters organically, though; they’re fairly well-drawn but are quickly subsumed into the convoluted machinations of a plot that refuses to slow down once the first punch is thrown.

That’s not necessarily a negative — Aronofsky ensures the film always has some harsh spectacle waiting around the next corner, framed with a gnarly eye and complemented by production value that convincingly transports us back in time to the squalid city streets and dingy locales (although the setting is used more as a backdrop than a key part of the narrative). 

What the film can’t escape is a prevailing sense of pointlessness beyond in-the-moment thrills. “Caught Stealing” becomes rather generic by the end, neatly tying up its threads and rushing through a typically far-fetched climax.

For all its gruesome violence, self-satisfied humor, and sporadic moments of strange earnestness, Aronofsky’s film lacks a true “standout” element, eventually blending together and fading away once the credits roll (the credits are depicted with more eye-catching visual flair than most of the film itself).

But at least Aronofsky is trying something new, even if “Caught Stealing” is far from a clean getaway.

“Caught Stealing” is a 2025 darkly comedic action thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Benito Martínez Ocasio, Griffin Dunne and Carol Kane. It’s rated R for strong violent content, pervasive language, some sexuality/nudity and brief drug use, and the run time is 1 hour, 47 minutes. It opens in theatres on Aug. 29.Alex’s Grade: C+

Austin Butler Drives Dark Comedy Action Thriller ‘Caught Stealing’

Austin Butler Drives Dark Comedy Action Thriller ‘Caught Stealing’

By Lynn Venhaus

Two lethal Hasidic Jews, two Russian mobster goons, a Latino gangster and a tough-talking cop walk into a grungy East Village bar in 1998 New York City, and mayhem ensues in a fast-paced bloody treasure hunt “Caught Stealing.”

Henry “Hank” Thompson (Austin Butler), a former jock who could have had a shot in the major leagues, is now tending bar in New York City’s Lower East Side, drinking way too much and tormented by what might have been. His neighbor Russ (Matt Smith) asked him to take care of his cat while he heads home because his father had a stroke. Without warning, Hank becomes embroiled in the criminal underworld.

Inexplicably, unlucky Hank’s life becomes a living hell. Butler, with his movie star charisma,  drives the film’s energy as the former golden boy tarnished by a messy life.

Embroiled in a violent “Wrong Man” type scenario, he leads a strong ensemble cast as disparate as mohawked Matt Smith as the Brit punk neighbor, Regina King as the hardboiled detective, Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio as machine gun-toting Hebrews with Carol Kane as their Bubbe, a grungy Griffin Dunne as grizzled bar owner Paul, and feisty Zoe Kravitz as his charming paramedic girlfriend Yvonne.

Zoe Kravitz, Austin Butler.

Butler and Kravitz click with tangible chemistry, and the cast digs into the quirky characters developed by author Charlie Huston, in his Hank Thompson mystery trilogy, who also wrote the screenplay.

Because Huston followed his 2004 “Caught Stealing” with 2005’s “Six Bad Things,” and 2006’s “A Dangerous Man,” can a sequel be far behind? (In case you are wondering, Huston is the grandson of legendary film actor and director John Huston and nephew of actors Anjelica Huston and Danny Huston.)

That’s the thing about a book adaptation. We don’t get the rich backstories of what’s going on in people’s heads – it’s up to the cast to convey, with nuance and depth, their inner lives.

Director Darren Aronofsky, leans more into the bullets flying and full-throttle chaos and less into character development as we’re quickly plunged into this darkly comedic-action thriller with a high body count —similar to “Bullet Train” three years ago.

Regina King, Austin Butler.

As a summer wild ride that knocks off pieces of “John Wick,” “After Hours” and any Quentin Tarantino -Guy Ritchie crime caper is light on original style but heavy on unpredictable, but it suffices as an easy-to-digest movie relying on cast appeal.

The humor is interspersed with gruesome killings, so the tonal whiplash shift doesn’t always work.

Aronofsky, who has helmed “The Whale,” “The Wrestler,” “Black Swan,” “Noah” and “Requiem for a Dream,” may seem like an odd fit, but he nails the scruffiness of late ‘90s NYC.

Of course, he benefits from cinematographer Matthew Libatique’s keen eye for detail in Pre-Millennium times, and winks by including some of his favorite spots like the long gone Kim’s Video.

Crackerjack editing by Andrew Weisblum, accompanied by a pulsating score from Rob Simonsen, also helps with the atmosphere. 

Matt Smith, Butler.

Haunted by his past, including a career-shattering drunk driving accident  15 years ago, that fuels Hank’s decisions and re-occurring nightmares. He deals with a reckoning through the film that is only touched on, but developed more in the books.

A California transplant who roots for his beloved San Francisco Giants and talks to his devoted mother (Laura Dern, in uncredited cameo) almost daily, Hank is likable but has issues he needs to address.

The pair of bald thugs who first roughed him up (Nikita Kukushkin and Yuri Kolokolnikov) are relentless, then they are joined by an enforcer (Bad Bunny) with a time-stamped ultimatum.

Trying to stay alive takes precedence for Hank as his loved ones are in danger, and he must see an endgame, but it doesn’t seem in sight. These plot threads keep unraveling, leading to tedium.

Liev Shreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Butler.

With all these colorful characters, one appreciates their contributions, but the chase becomes a labyrinth, and the film starts running out of gas.

Still, more surprises are in store. Yet, the cat named Bud is a reliable scene-stealer (Tonic, from “Pet Sematary” reboot).

“Caught Stealing” is a rough ride, depending on how you tolerate violence.

However, Butler proves himself as a certifiable leading man, Oscar nominated for “Elvis” and trying hard to show a range (“Dune,” “The Bikeriders,” and Eddington”). He is such a winning presence as Hank that you want to follow him on his journeys. They set up the ending for a sequel.

Wherever Hank and Bud go, you hope they go together. And you can sense they will be magnets for trouble. And there’s enough of a crime caper here to keep us turning in an imperfect summer throwaway.

“Caught Stealing” is a 2025 darkly comedic action thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Benito Martínez Ocasio, Griffin Dunne and Carol Kane. It’s rated R for strong violent content, pervasive language, some sexuality/nudity and brief drug use, and the run time is 1 hour, 47 minutes. It opens in theatres on Aug. 29. Lynn’s Grade: B-

Brendan Fraser Captivates in Harrowing, Fascinating Drama

Brendan Fraser Captivates in Harrowing, Fascinating Drama

By Alex McPherson

An exhausting film filled with compelling performances, director Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale” exerts a vice-like grip throughout, reveling in both discomfort and emotional catharsis.

Adapted from a play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter, who also wrote the screenplay, “The Whale” centers around Charlie (Brendan Fraser), a reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher giving remote lessons within a fetid apartment in Idaho during the 2016 presidential primaries.

Suffering from congestive heart failure, and refusing medical care, Charlie doesn’t have much time left — prompting this kind yet tormented soul to reflect on his mistakes and seek some semblance of inner peace. Above all else, he wants to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink), who prickles with rage and resentment at not only him, but the world at large. 

Eight years prior, Charlie abandoned Ellie and his then-wife, Mary (Samantha Morton) to be with his gay lover, Alan, who later passed away, leaving Charlie reeling with grief and practically eating himself into the grave. Charlie is looked after by his friend, Liz (Hong Chau), a nurse who shares a past with him and who is battling her own all-encompassing demons.

As the days tick by, Charlie frequently refers back to an essay one of his students wrote about “Moby Dick” — a blunt interpretation whose honesty affects him to his very core.

The stage is set for in-your-face melodrama, and “The Whale” certainly tries to make viewers feel as much as possible. Yet, despite the script’s heavy-handedness and cinematic flourishes that detract from its noble messages, Aronofsky’s film soars on the undeniable power of its performances. Fraser is marvelous, bringing tenderness to a character too often put in extreme situations. 

Indeed, Charlie is seemingly at battle with the film itself — a tug-of-war between empathy and cruelty. Aronofsky — known as a boundary-pushing filmmaker — has no qualms about putting him through the ringer from beginning to end. Despite a dreary, limited setting (enhanced by a claustrophobic aspect ratio), the near-constant punishment from the outside world, and his untenable condition, Charlie remains hopeful that he can help Ellie restore some faith in herself to weather their harsh world, and thereby right the greatest wrong in his own tragic life. 

With a fatsuit and strong makeup work, Fraser’s first impression is startling (even played to “horror” lengths at certain points), but his earnest line delivery brings sensitivity and sly humor to a character otherwise harshly defined. It’s difficult to overstate just how effective Fraser is here — even the most clumsy, heavy-handed soliloquies feel impactful thanks to his raw skill as a performer and his ability to convey meaning that isn’t always there in the screenplay.

The rest of the cast is exceptional as well, particularly Chau, who brings much-needed groundedness to the film’s increasingly melodramatic plot developments. Liz is a high-strung, enabling, and grief-stricken person herself — doing what she can for Charlie, while also neglecting to appreciate his last wishes.

Sadie Sink

Sink, on the other hand, is downright scary as Ellie, a teenager warped by cynicism and insecurity. It often seems like Sink, and the script, have Ellie dialed up to 11, which lessens the character’s authenticity and leans into exaggeration. Still, in the few moments where Ellie isn’t verbally abusing Charlie (or worse), viewers get glimpses beneath the facade, where some warmth and compassion remain. 

Also worth mentioning is Ty Simpkins, who plays Thomas, a church missionary who keeps showing up at Charlie’s doorstep and wants to “save” him before the end-times. Like most of the people Charlie interacts with, Thomas doesn’t have his best interests at heart, and “The Whale” emphasizes Charlie’s personal salvation over prejudiced, preordained constraints.

Aronofsky’s film is far less successful, though, in its translation from stage to screen. This isn’t a subtle film by any means, and blunt symbolism abounds — notably in how Charlie’s weight can function as a metaphor for his regrets, and how the film paints parallels between his body and that of the White Whale in “Moby Dick.” Moments where Aronofsky and cinematographer Matthew Libatique showcase the depths of Charlie’s desperation stand out as unnecessary and demeaning, inserted for shock value at his expense.

Ironically, the sequences where “The Whale” is most like a stage-play are where it works best — pleading for viewers’ sympathy, sacrificing emotional nuance, and giving the ensemble plenty of opportunities to loudly declare their awards-worthiness. Strange though this dichotomy is, it remains engrossing.

Less than the sum of its parts, albeit absorbing throughout, “The Whale” is worth watching as an acting showcase and an examination of ideas in a dramatic framework that’s seemingly, fascinatingly at war with itself.

“The Whale” is a 2022 drama directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Brenda Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau and Ty Simpkins. It’s rated R for some language, some drug use and sexual content and has a 1 hour, 57 minutes runtime. It opened in select theaters Dec. 21. Alex’s Grade: B

Grief, Regrets and Salvation Collide in Aronofsky’s Bleak, Stagey ‘The Whale’

Grief, Regrets and Salvation Collide in Aronofsky’s Bleak, Stagey ‘The Whale’


By Lynn Venhaus
Brendan Fraser is heartbreaking and haunting as a morbidly obese recluse with mental and physical health problems in the difficult-to-watch “The Whale.”

He’s a reclusive English teacher who has an opportunity to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter (Sadie Sink).

As Charlie, he is attracting year-end awards attention, and deservedly so. It’s a stunning, brave performance from Fraser, possibly his best. He depicts this bruised man as a gentle soul whose tragic flaw was caring too much in a disingenuous environment.

Now 54, he has been acting for three decades. Deemed a heartthrob in his 20s after such films as “George of the Jungle” and “The Mummy,” his varied career has included comedies (“Airheads,” “Encino Man”), dramas (“Gods and Monsters,” “Crash”), TV (“The Affair” and “Trust”), and voice-over animation work (King of the Hill,” “The Simpsons”). Most recently, he’s been playing Cliff Steele on the HBOMax series “Doom Patrol.”

While wearing prosthetics to make him look like a 600-lb. man, Fraser allows us to see the hurting human being inside. Charlie is dying and can’t stop eating himself to death – it’s a choice.

Shots of his girth, his inability to move without assistance, and a trapped, confined, lethargic existence where he shuns easier mobility are painful and sad.

The remarkable transformation was crafted by makeup artist Adrien Morot, who was Oscar nominated for “Barney’s Version,” and has worked on the 2019 “Pet Sematary” reboot and “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” among his credits.

“The Whale” is a bleak adaptation of a play by Samuel D. Hunter on how a character gets into his current predicament because of loss, guilt, and love. The amount of self-loathing makes it painful to witness, but Fraser is never not authentic.

Confined to a run-down two-bedroom home that reflects how frozen in time the lead character is, Charlie has not been able to get past his lover’s suicide years earlier. He has shut himself off from society, hidden away in a grief cocoon of his own making.

A learned man, as reflected by crammed bookshelves, with an academic career – he teaches online English classes, he offers to write his estranged daughter’s high school assignments. He is desperate to reconnect with her, and it becomes a shot at redemption.  

Sadie Sink

As played by Sadie Sink, Ellie is a sullen, snarling, and angry teen who lashes out at everyone, especially her father, whom she blames for many of his failings, and hers. Her dad left when she was 8 years old, because he had fallen in love with one of his students.

The plot connects more dots, because nurse Liz, in a tough-love performance from Hong Chau, has a history with Charlie.

She does not indulge in his solitary imprisonment, but at the same time, tries to be realistic about his death march.

The playwright obviously has an axe to grind about evangelicals and their quest for salvation. The religious ties are revealed slowly, but Thomas, a missionary from “New Life Ministries,” looking very similar to a Mormon, attempts a conversion. He’s adroitly played by Ty Simpkins, now grown-up, most known for being the older brother in “Jurassic World” and a kid in “Iron Man 3.”

He is not as innocent as he seems, but seems unfairly targeted by Ellie, who can’t hide her disdain — but the mocking is cruel.

The backstories get sorted out, but no encounter is a random one. Samantha Morton has another outstanding cameo (she is brilliant as an informant in “She Said”) as Charlie’s bitter ex-wife. The resentment is no longer simmering, it’s a full-on rolling boil.

A lot of yelling is directed at Charlie, and between mother and daughter, so the confrontations are blunt and in-your-face. You begin to understand why Charlie wants to be left alone. Why deal with the messiness of humanity?

The playwright, who wrote the film adaptation, set the play in Mormon country in Idaho, and belabors the point repeatedly. 

The theme doesn’t vary that much from director Darren Aronofsky’s familiar darker and often nihilistic films (“Requiem for a Dream,” “Black Swan,” “Mother!”).

Brendan Fraser

You can see its stage roots showing, and the author clumsily connects Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” obsession to the situation facing Charlie, while the evangelical ties are also heavy-handed.

Even though glimmers of hope emerge, when Charlie says: “Who would want me to be part of their life?,” it’s a gut-punch.

There are two gasp-worthy scenes – an eat-your-feelings binge that’s horrifying and a devastating reveal to students, that one must summon empathy and compassion or check out.

So much of the distressing story has a “too little, too late” tinge to it, adding to the feelings of regret and recrimination that permeate the space.

Because of the script’s complexities, you know that the ending won’t be a sweet, sappy resolution. Yet, the way it concludes is still unexpected.

Overall, “The Whale” is an unsettling and uneven work, marked by good performances that deserved better material.

“The Whale” is a 2022 drama directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Brenda Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau and Ty Simpkins. It’s rated R for some language, some drug use and sexual content and has a 1 hour, 57 minutes runtime. It opened in select theaters Dec. 21. Lynn’s Grade: C.

Hong Chau in “The Whale”