Caught Stealing Review
The latest film for Darren Aronofsky, Caught Stealing hits theaters. This is one I’ve been very curious about because the trailers have been very interesting and curious to see what a more street level Darren Aronofsky film would look like, plus there’s several actors in here that I enjoy. Having seen the film, what did I think about it? Was it any good? Let’s talk about it!
The Good
The best thing about this film was the cast. In the lead here is Austin Butler, obviously one of the top working actors working today. He’s proven himself as a talent that is here to stay ever since Elvis in 2022. Even since then he’s been delivering great performances that show how versatile he is. When you watch him go from Elvis to Feyd-Rautha to this character you see that he’s willing to play a lot of different very weird and weird characters. When you have an all star cast that also has Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, and Vincent D’Onofrio it’s all just great actors delivering great performances in this film. All of them have a certain charm about them, there’s something about their personality or a quirk that they have that just makes them stand out and pop. Matt Smith is one of the more fun stand outs who’s just playing this very lively and energetic character. Clearly Matt Smith was just having a blast playing this character. He has crazy outfits with a wild Mohawk that makes him the flashiest character in the film. There’s even some henchmen in the film that aren’t played by big name actors but are just fun additions and they’re just so weird that they stand out. There’s a cameo at the end of the movie that is very sudden and lasts seconds, but it catches you off guard and I liked that. I’m a big fan of this person so seeing them show up for a few seconds puts a smile on my face.
Another thing this film does really well is make you engaged and curious with what’s going to happen next. It’s a very chaotic film, there’s a lot of visions and flashbacks happening that tie into the film and Butler’s character arc. The way it uses flashbacks hooks you right away. The trailers show a bunch of images of Butler either holding a baseball bat or playing baseball. I wasn’t sure how that was going to go into the film but it does in some clever ways that keeps you engaged. Telling the story out of order is actually a very smart way to hook the audience as I’ve learned in several of my film classes. As I said earlier, I’m not super familiar with Darren Aronofsky’s work; his only other film that I’ve seen is The Whale. That film has a dream-like quality to it and it can get trippy and weird at points. This film has that dream quality nature to it but it’s through the flashbacks and revealing information to the audience. All of this stuff that’s Darren Aronofsky’s speciality makes this film unique and stand out from what could’ve been a very generic and straight forward film.
One thing that really surprised me about the film, especially as you move into the third act is the amount of heart and emotion there is. It’s tough to say without spoiling anything but the heart that comes from the film really surprised me but it wasn’t very present in the first half of the film. Even based on the trailers I didn’t expect there to be a heart, I was sort of just expecting just a Darren Aronofsky thriller. Throughout the journey and what Butler’s character goes through it comes to a very emotionally satisfying conclusion. Throughout the film they establish that Butler is very close with his mom and they bond over the San Francisco Giants (which is my favorite baseball team). All that pays off at the end is emotional. As somebody who is very close with my mom it pulled at the right heart strings. Maybe I’m over selling this, it’s not one of the most emotional movies of all time. I never started crying or tearing up during the film. But it has just the right amount of heart that adds some extra layers to the film. So much of the emotion is able to be communicated through Butler’s performance and showing that he’s a great talent that can be chaotic, drunk, and emotional all in one performance.
The film also has a nice sense of humor to it. This film has a dark sense of humor, a majority of the jokes are very crass and dark and not everybody will find them funny. But the amount of the jokes really did make me laugh. There’s a whole bit where Austin Butler’s character gets drunk and he has to play drunk while walking home and it’s really funny and what he does makes the scene even funnier. There’s some jokes with Matt Smith’s character that put a smile on my face, once again it’s a very dark comedy so go in with those expectations. I really did think the film’s comedy adds an extra layer to the film because the movie is more than what the trailers promised. I didn’t expect to laugh and be emotional while watching this film. It’s not a one note film and I appreciate that about the film, I liked that about the film.
Finally, I’ve kind of allotted this throughout the review but the trailers do a good job of subverting expectations and not delivering the film you expect. I just mentioned how the film is more emotional and funnier than I expected. But even what I thought the film was going to be about and who the main characters were wasn’t what I expected. A couple weeks back I put a Tweet that said “Caught Stealing is the film starring where Elvis falls in love with Catwoman and attempts to escape from Kingpin and Sabretooth with the help of Doctor Who.” There’s elements on that Tweet that’s true when you watch the film, but there’s a lot that I got wrong based on that Tweet and I liked that. It’s hard to talk about without going into spoilers, but the film was surprising in the sense that it wasn’t what I expected. I thought the film was going to be more of a buddy film between Austin Butler and Matt Smith, that’s not what this film is.
The Bad
While I just praised the film for being surprising and not exactly what I expected, I also thought the film had some predictable moments to it. There’s some moments in the third act that are treated as big reveals but I saw coming a ways down the line. There were just a few moments like that where it’s meant to be a big reveal and I was like “ok yah that’s what I thought was going to happen.” There is some stuff that did surprise me, but there were a few things that I found to be predictable. Even in the trailers, their attempts to not reveal certain things or the order in which they happen means that if you notice a character isn’t super prominent in the trailers then that probably means they don’t have a lot of screen time in the film. I feel like the trailers and the movie provide an interesting relationship because they both foreshadow certain things that are happening while also keeping things a secret.
Also, I did enjoy the film and would 100% recommend it. This does feel like a one time watch film. Certain kinds of dark comedy I think works really well and this one does have a lot of dark comedy that works, I don’t see myself rewatching this film a whole lot. It’s not a testament to the quality of the film, I think Darren Aronofsky made the film he wanted to make, but this type of film just isn’t exactly wired to be something that I’ll love or praise as one of the best films of the year. Once again, not an issue with a film, in fact I feel like maybe this should be a positive about the film but it does affect my overall enjoyment of the film.
Final Thoughts: Caught Stealing is a solid film from Darren Aronofsky. There’s plenty of talent on display in front of and behind the camera. Austin Butler delivers a stellar performance that continues to prove his acting abilities. While there were a lot of things about it I enjoyed and thought it got right, I don’t see myself rewatching this film a whole lot.
The Score: 8.3/10 (B)
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