There is nothing quite like New York City in the ’90s. The abundance of payphones, the short-sleeve T-shirts layered on top of the long-sleeve T-shirt combo, the grungy look — these images evoke nostalgia for a bygone era. When this aesthetic is set in the familiar playground of New York, it creates the perfect setting for a gritty narrative. The cultural mecca of NYC offers a familiar environment where dangerous plot twists and risky business are fair game. Most of all, it is the ideal setting for Darren Aronofsky’s (“Requiem for a Dream”) newest crime comedy, “Caught Stealing.”
This fall, Aronofsky, director of gritty dramas like “Black Swan,” “Requiem for a Dream” and “The Whale” took a lighter, yet in some ways more thrilling, tone. Starring Austin Butler (“Elvis”) and Zoë Kravitz (“Blink Twice”) as doomed lovers roped into a money-laundering extravaganza, “Caught Stealing” takes viewers on a chaotic, fast-paced journey all over the streets of late-1990s New York City.
The film opens with Hank Thompson, played by Butler, a man drifting aimlessly through life. Hank works at a small bar while dealing with a bad case of alcoholism himself. His passion is baseball, and his sullen attitude is the result of a car accident that ruined his athletic career in high school and killed his best friend. But this dreary moping turns upside down when his neighbor, Russ (Matt Smith, “The Crown”), leaves Hank with a cat, a litter box and the key to getting $4.5 million. But Hank is not the only player in this game. Two enemy parties are left behind in Russ’s wake, both willing to do anything and kill anyone to get their hands on the money. Hank runs around the city, fleeing angry Hasidic gangsters and even angrier Russian mobsters and, in the midst of it all, becoming an unwilling culprit in a major criminal scheme.
With characters singing on top of pool tables and steamy moments between Hank and Yvonne (Kravitz), the first 30 minutes of “Caught Stealing” are a truly delightful time. Butler, who has finally shaken off the Elvis accent, captivates viewers with his charisma. This role highlights his range; Butler can not only impersonate a global superstar, but also give a complex, accurate portrayal of an average guy. Aronofsky’s entertaining and lively first act offers the audience a digestible narrative. And, best of all, it presents a set of interesting characters with the potential to develop. Hank is a lost soul in need of purpose and closure from his high school trauma. Yvonne attempts to break down Hank’s walls, but can’t motivate him enough to make a serious change. And Russ, the eccentric neighbor, has just accidentally brought the two into his world of criminal escapades. It is the perfect recipe, and a promising set-up (or so I believed) for an action-filled, thrilling flick.
As the film approached its midpoint, however, an abrupt tonal shift began to shake my faith in the film. One minute, we’re laughing at Bud (Tonic, “Pet Semetary”), the star cat of the film, and the next we are shocked by a major, emotional moment: Yvonne’s death. Hank walks into her apartment, only to find her brutally murdered in what he can only assume is meant to be read as a warning.
The odd thing about this scene is how quickly it is brushed over. Hank is sad for all of about two minutes, then he continues running around the city, figuring out what the hell he got himself into. Throughout the remainder of the film, there are few moments where we see this grief for Yvonne return. Instead, jumping from his grief to comedic interactions and dangerous stunts, though, it seems as though the film is trying to escape each genre it presents itself as. The film tries to cover too much ground, and as a result completely brushes over one of its major characters’ deaths, leading Hank — who I once believed had many layers — to ultimately come across as shallow. I couldn’t tell if this choice was insensitive or just poorly executed, but either way, it led the film down a poor path.
Unfortunately, this path is followed all the way to the final moments of the film. “Caught Stealing” continues to follow Hank closely, but instead of observing his relationships with Yvonne or even Russ, most of his screen time is split between being cornered by the Russians and being cornered by the Hasidic brothers. There are moments where it seems Hank could never make it out alive, and somehow, either by leftovers of his teenage athleticism or by pure chance, he does. He defeats the odds, makes it out alive and we, the audience, sigh with relief.
Despite these moments being entertaining, I wished Hank’s character and interpersonal relationships were explored more thoroughly throughout the movie. Yvonne’s death occurring so early on in the film eliminates all chances for her character to have a strong impact on Hank, despite the fact that this seems to be what the film was setting up as its catalyst. Russ’s friendship with Hank is never fleshed out, and their partnership in this crime has no emotional draw. When the film occasionally attempts to dig deeper into Hank’s character, it is through flashbacks to his high school car crash. Even then, the film does not succeed, as there is no moment that shows Hank overcoming this trauma, but rather a collection of random moments that have little significance to the plot. While every good character needs a backstory, I would have been much more interested in learning who Hank is now — something the film’s action-heavy sequences took away from.
In theory, “Caught Stealing” seems like it would be a fan favorite. It is a pivot away from heavy dramas and toward films that are, simply put, a good time. Amid the chaos of everyday life, it is hard to gather enough energy to dig up a film’s message from 1,000 layers beneath the surface. But in order for a fun film like this to work, the characters need to be established beyond the surface level, and the genre needs to remain consistent throughout the movie.
There is no room for uncertainty in the middle of a major crime scheme. Yet, watching “Caught Stealing,” I often felt that Aronofsky himself was uncertain of what the film was and what it wanted to be. I never knew whether I was supposed to be saddened, amused or intrigued by the events on my screen — and many times, it seemed the characters felt the same way. This complete avoidance of a clear tone prevented me from empathizing with Hank, and, by the end, I wasn’t rooting for any party to get the $4.5 million.
It is important to have fun movies that offer us an escape from the drama of our own lives. But while Aronofsky’s film certainly had the potential to deliver this, it failed at drawing the line between clever and insincere. In the end, “Caught Stealing” was many, many things — and that was its problem.
Daily Arts Writer Abigail Weinberg can be reached at weinab@umich.edu.
