New York filmmaker Darren Aronofsky may occasionally make epic and fantastical films, considering the quest for everlasting life (“The Fountain”), or the religious tensions of grave sins and compassionate forgiveness (“Noah”). Still, his heart is never far away from Coney Island and Brooklyn. Like “Pi,” “Requiem For A Dream” or the dilapidated areas of New Jersey in “The Wrestler,” Aronofsky often displays an affinity for grimy, downtrodden squalidness, so he’s right at home tonally in his latest film, the innocent-man-caught-in-the-middle-of-chaos thriller, “Caught Stealing.”
Nostalgically set in the grungy late ’90s Lower East Side of Manhattan, which Aronofsky seems to have plenty of affection for (see plenty of ’90s alt-rock, electronica and punk), Austin Butler (“Elvis”) stars as Henry “Hank” Thompson, a former baseball wunderkind cut short of his promise now living as a wayward bartender.
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Hank’s girlfriend is the paramedic Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz, in a rather thankless role), and the barkeep frequently calls his mother in California to discuss their mutual obsession with the San Francisco Giants baseball team, keeping one glove in the world of hardball.
Haunted and defined by his past transgression—a tragic car accident that cost the life of a friend—Hank continues to reckon with his burdens, mostly masking it with copious amounts of alcohol and proudly clinging to an underachiever status, which annoys the potential his gf sees in him. But life unexpectedly hits Hank with an out-of-left-field curveball when his unruly British punk neighbor, Russ (Matt Smith), suddenly must depart for London to see his dying dad, leaving Hank with cat-sitting duties and the rowdy feline, Bud.
This task should be simple enough, but a pair of vicious Russian mobsters, Aleksei (Yuri Kolokolnikov) and Pavel (Nikita Kukushkin), are on the hunt for Russ and beat Hank senseless in their violent quest for answers.
Russ has something illicit they want, and everyone is after it, including the notorious Hasidic gangsters Lipa (Liev Schreiber) and Shmully (Vincent D’Onofrio). While the New York police officer Detective Roman (Regina King) tries to warn Hank to stay clear of all these villains, through bad luck or ill circumstance, he soon becomes a man on the run, embroiled in all the intrigue, often catching a beating in the process.
Like the Hitchcockian “wrong man in the wrong place” trope, Hank finds himself caught in someone else’s theft and trapped in an inescapable loop of desperation that even climaxes in tragedy.
Pushed to the edge of personal oblivion, an increasingly fraught Hank is forced to rely on his wits, ingenuity and tiptoed resolve in order to survive this harrowing ordeal that becomes more absurd and anarchic by the minute.
Mixing frenzied comedy and harrowing thrills and seat-of-the-pants escapes, Aronofsky crafts an entertaining old-school thriller that thrives on momentum and adrenaline, not unlike the mood of “Requiem For A Dream” with a little less traumatic addiction and shocking NC-17 scenarios.
Propulsively high-octane and energetically engaging (and occasionally overwrought and not subtle), “Caught Stealing” is always engrossing, never dull, and purposefully crafted with a frenzy seemingly intended to keep you off your phone; it’s unrelenting and shark-like in its rhythms.
Butler is a compelling star, and its twists and turns keep the protagonist on its toes, much like it does the audience. Cinematography Matthew Libatique invariably keeps the mood fraught and tense—there’s some interesting use of drones throughout, seemingly ripped out of the pages of animation—and the soundtrack and score are equally frenzied.
As captivating as it all is, one sometimes gets the feeling they’re stuck in a time warp, as if Aronofsky’s less-disturbing follow-up to “Requiem For A Dream” just came out, only 25 years after the fact. The film itself perhaps contains a psychological tension beyond the empathy one has for its poor hero—the confusing place where genuine halcyonid nostalgia meets familiar regurgitation. Is this wistful self-homage or willful repetition? The answer might be a bit of both.
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Yet, as entertaining as “Caught Stealing” can be, it lacks depth, a greater resonance to say something about the world and doesn’t really offer anything overly fresh. Sure, it does comment on the nature of regret, being stuck in the past, and the freeing liberation of escaping and being unshackled by your previous demons, but isn’t this the mark of every hero’s journey? And yes, for all its sleaze, slime and grime, this is essentially an odyssey through the depths of Brooklyn, trying to get to the brighter, sunnier side of America’s playground.
Results will vary in this regard. If you’re seeking an escapist popcorn-like thriller, “Caught Stealing” should do the trick. But if you’re yearning for something more substantive, you may end up feeling slightly swindled. Still, credit Aronofsky for picking your pocket with a deft touch, and stealing a base with style. [B]