Directed by Darren Aronofsky | Written by Charlie Huston, based on his book | 107 min | ▲▲▲▲
In the mid to late 1990s, a swath of crime thrillers were made in the wake of the broad success of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, and QT’s script for Tony Scott’s True Romance. Many were forgettable, but not all of them — consider The Usual Suspects, Out Of Sight, and Get Shorty. From the trailer this movie looked like one of those, but it was unclear for the first half or so whether it would be one to forget or one that distinguishes itself. The last act proves it’s the latter.
It’s 1998 and Hank (Austin Butler) works as a bartender in a grungy East Village bar owned by Paul (Griffin Dunne, once again stuck in New York). Hank’s a big drinker and a big baseball guy, a fan of the San Francisco Giants like his Mom in California (she cameos at the end, but credit to you if you recognize the actor’s voice over the phone). Hank and his maybe-girlfriend Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz) take in a cat belonging to his neighbour, Russ (Matt Smith), a punk who decamps to London, not realizing that Russ is holding money of interest to crews of Russian and Hassidic gangsters, which brings Detective Roman (Regina King) onto the scene.
As mentioned, all this set-up feels like typical crime comedy/action fare from the era in which it’s set — the repeated shots of the World Trade Centre a constant reminder, the filmmakers doing a great job bringing us back to a grimy moment in the city’s history. Aronofky is a restless talent — how different are his films The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan, Noah, mother and The Whale? Caught Stealing could be called the most commercial effort of his career — if this was, in fact, 1998.
Hank’s efforts to dry out and keep himself, his people, and his neighbour’s cat safe (even though he’s a dog person) butts up against the Russian thugs (and their pal, played by Bad Bunny) who put him in the hospital, convinced Hank can help them find the money Russ has been hiding. Aronofsky never looks away from bodily fluids, so expect a lot of grossness here, too. This is maybe the most sympathetic role of Austin’s career, someone whose skin we really get under as he tries to do the right thing while also exorcising past demons.
Russ’s return to New York really gives the picture a boost — the former Dr Who is terrific in this, but Caught Stealing — which, yes, references both the Jane’s Addiction song and baseball parlance — really takes off in the last act with the arrival of those Hassidim: Vincent D’Onofrio and Liev Schreiber are bearded brothers with their mom played by the awesome Carol Kane. That’s when this project really takes flight, becoming just as funny as it is gritty and violent.
My cinepanion called this “The Perfect Saturday Night Movie,” and I’m not going to contradict him.
