Caught Stealing (Darren Aronofsky, 2025)

[beamish14]

Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing is cast and starts shooting soon.

This is probably his most commercial project ever, assuming that it adheres closely to the novel it’s based on (which seems likely given that the author is also adapting it). It’s a very fun, extremely violent read. Not too dissimilar in tone and characterization as the long-gestating The Winter of Frankie Machine, which is now being made by the creator of The Bear, Christopher Storer

[flyonthewall2983]

I like the sound of it. Always got the impression that Aaronofsky has a great action movie within him.

[brundlefly]

Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing is cast and starts shooting soon.

This is probably his most commercial project ever, assuming that it adheres closely to the novel it’s based on (which seems likely given that the author is also adapting it). It’s a very fun, extremely violent read. Not too dissimilar in tone and characterization as the long-gestating The Winter of Frankie Machine, which is now being made by the creator of The Bear, Christopher Storer

Trailer.

[Finch]

That's Matt Smith as one of the punks!

[Never Cursed]

I know he's been in other movies, but god is it weird to see Bad Bunny acting. Not sure how I feel about the color palette, either.

[therewillbeblus]

It's (cautiously) comforting to see a filmmaker who is normally so self-serious, even at his best, produce what looks to be a lowkey-fun neo-noir lark. Curious how it turns out

[The Narrator Returns]

Wish that this looked better and especially that it looked better, I have no idea why Aronofsky's decided that The Whale's oppressive blandness is how he should film all his movies.

[beamish14]

Did Aronofsky and Clint Mansell have a falling out? I wish he was scoring this

[colinr0380]

Matt Smith does have form playing punks, as he appeared as the main villain in Ryan Gosling's Lost River a while back.

[therewillbeblus]

Caught Stealing is okay, mainly because of Butler's star persona in full gear, but its Aronofsky-branded tone of ultra-seriousness mixed with overstated themes doesn't blend well with the riotous ride shenanigans. It's a bit of a mess, because the dark material just never feels earned by the movie around it (I really hated one particular death early on), and Butler can't save something that Aronofsky is just finding opportunities to try to show off in. I enjoyed Matt Smith's scenes a lot and Regina King is still a boss but Nikita Kukushkin is the MVP, bringing the only deserved and fittingly black comedy into the picture

[Brian C]

Caught Stealing is okay, mainly because of Butler's star persona in full gear, but its Aronofsky-branded tone of ultra-seriousness mixed with overstated themes doesn't blend well with the riotous ride shenanigans. It's a bit of a mess, because the dark material just never feels earned by the movie around it (I really hated one particular death early on), and Butler can't save something that Aronofsky is just finding opportunities to try to show off in. I enjoyed Matt Smith's scenes a lot and Regina King is still a boss but Nikita Kukushkin is the MVP, bringing the only deserved and fittingly black comedy into the picture

I feel vaguely unsatisfied by this as well, a full 24 hours after having left the theater. I don't think Aronofsky is really the right director for this material, because as much as I've loved a few of his movies in the past, I don't think that humor is something that he seems all that interested in. And I think he has a lot of difficulty finding the humor in this story, even though it basically seems to be his attempt to make his own After Hours (Griffin Dunne pops up and everything!). It's a real tweener, too heavy to be all that funny but also a little too goofy to take all that seriously.

Spoiler

I think I know what you mean about that death you hated early on (presuming you mean Kravitz's character - her death is a real gut punch, but it feels pretty breezed over, even if it's more or less Hank's motive for everything he does after. It reminded me of Carla Jean's (presumed) death in No Country for Old Men, because it's a fairly similar circumstance, butthe Coens had the good sense to treat her with more gravity and overall took her more seriously as a character. But here even Hank seems barely affected by it unless the plot specifically requires him to be, and it seems kinda cheap, for lack of a better word.

Can't say I'm on board with the Regina King plot-twist, either. She was simply a more interesting character when she was a real cop, and even more to the point, the plot was more interesting when she served as a third "side" with her own agenda. But instead, the plot was reduced to the Russians vs. the "Hebrews" which made the narrative than it seemed at first, essentially a Yojimbo remake. Especially in retrospect, it seems like a mistake.

That said, I did appreciate the rather novel twist that Russ was genuinely in London freaking out about his dad's health, just like he said he was, and left the key with Hank completely unwittingly just because he needed someone to watch his cat!

Along those lines, I think Russ was the character that most successfully hit the mark of what this movie was trying to be - earnest but absurd at the time same. And just like Aronofsky was maybe not the right director for the film, I wonder if Butler is maybe not the right actor, and for the same reason. He's an extremely earnest actor and I like him, but I don't think I've seen that he has the comedy chops to bring this material out. He's playing up the existential guilt-ridden agony while the movie has two Orthodox rabbis shooting up a Russian wedding, and the tone mashup just doesn't work.

Overall, the movie is sort of fun but seems misconceived.

[therewillbeblus]

Agreed. Aronofsky has succeeded when he manipulates his heavy-handedness to fit the absurd tone and themes of his films (Pi, Black Swan, and mother! are the ones that work for me), earning that sincere approach. But here, he flashes style and places it so seriously in ways that never feel earned by what comes before or after. Forget all the flashbacks and turning off the tv to face the self etc. - even something like the baseball game of a random player stealing home prior to the title card is just eye-rolling. Or how he chooses to spin the camera around for a bit while doling out trivial information about where we are and what time it is just because he wants to play a certain song for a while before we start. Anyways, enough ragging - one thing I did appreciate was how seriously the film took the consequences of violence on the body. Again, this is a bit undercut by the attempts at humor and general absurdities, but the way Butler's beating affects him and especially

Spoiler

Matt Smith's ultimate death from a baseball bat to the face, instead of only getting cartoonishly dizzy from it,

were welcome doses of realism. I also loved the in-joke you did, where -after a series of 'twists', the reveal about Smith

Spoiler

is that there was no twist to his part of the story! Though it was a very annoying plot mis-step that Smith did not expect Butler to find the key in a fake piece of shit in a litter box that he's supposed to clean, because he's taking care of a cat... wouldn't the biggest piece of shit be the first one he'd toss? Even if you know your friend is messy and doesn't particularly want to care for a cat, wouldn't you expect him to at least want to get rid of the smell, at a bare minimum? C'mon man, you're just asking for your 4 mil to get thrown away in the trash.

[Brian C]

Anyways, enough ragging - one thing I did appreciate was how seriously the film took the consequences of violence on the body. Again, this is a bit undercut by the attempts at humor and general absurdities, but the way Butler's beating affects him and especially

Spoiler

Matt Smith's ultimate death from a baseball bat to the face, instead of only getting cartoonishly dizzy from it,

were welcome doses of realism.

I agree with this as it relates to Smith, but aside from that ... I dunno. Lots of stuff like Hank dangling from a windowsill immediately after leaving the hospital with a catastrophic injury! Only for him to grimace and hold his side for a second afterward but otherwise be fine. I was wincing even watching him carry his laundry down the stairs, given the circumstances. I don't think "realism" is the word I'd use, more like "occasional token acknowledgement of his injuries".

[therewillbeblus]

I tried to throw the film a bone, but you're right, that was stupid. As was the easy one-two punch Hank got away with against the toughest fighter, only for him to get schooled the next time in the same way - another setup for laughs gone awry. The Smith stuff feels out of a different movie - it's genuinely karmic

Spoiler

in a sad and undeserving but understandable way, by indirectly inviting Hank into a situation where he'd need to use self-defense so hastily

compared to the "karmic" insertions Aronofsky tries to place elsewhere

[Brian C]

The Smith stuff feels out of a different movie

Yeah, I think this really gets to the heart of the issue. Ultimately, it's a case of a movie not actually knowing who its most interesting character is. All the stuff about Hank's past and associated guilt felt so typical and even generic compared to everything going on around him. But Russ's story resonates a lot stronger with me for the reasons you give.

[rapta]

Just saw this in a triple-bill with Weapons and Eddington. Whilst I agree Aronofsky isn't particularly adept as a comedic director, I did enjoy to see him stray out of his 'usual' stylistic trappings and apply his creative eye to more of an action-thriller format (and more specifically, a love letter to New York). I also appreciated the casting, though I agree that tonally the thing falls a bit flat at certain key points, and decisions to kill off certain characters were misjudged (but then necessary for the protagonist's trajectory). Overall though, I'm willing to forgive these shortcomings as I found it generally entertaining, and far more worthwhile than a lot of other, more successful films of the comedy-action genre.

This is the kind of thing the Coen Brothers would have absolutely nailed at a certain point in their career, and funnily enough I felt the same way about Eddington (which opened with a Fargo-like opening title, and later on reminded me of both Burn After Reading and No Country for Old Men; whereas the Aronofsky evoked The Big Lebowski, if nothing else). Could have also easily been filtered through the Safdie Brothers, though I imagine both Good Time and Uncut Gems already scratched that itch for them (and are ultimately more satisfying films overall).

[tehthomas]

Among a handful of NYC set films this year (Highest 2 Lowest, Materialists), I enjoyed Caught Stealing the most. It's funnier and more thrilling than the other two, beating both are their own game. And perhaps the late '90's setting, when New York still had some grit adds a great atmosphere to this release. While a much darker film, Caught Stealing reminded me of Marathon Man. Definitely will find a place in my Top Ten for 2025 and highly recommend seeing this one in a theater.