Caught Stealing is a new film from Darren Aronofsky now playing in theaters. Charlie Huston wrote the screenplay based on his own book of the same name. The film stars Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Benito A Martínez Ocasio, Griffin Dunne, and Carol Kane. Burned-out ex-baseball player Hank Thompson unexpectedly finds himself embroiled in a dangerous struggle for survival amidst the criminal underbelly of 1990s New York City, forced to navigate a treacherous underworld he never imagined.

I’ve been familiar with Darren Aronofsky’s career as long as I have loved film. I can’t even recall what the sole movie was that grabbed my attention. Even through his high’s and low’s, I have been a fan. I have been one of the few people that loved mother!. Based on the marketing material, I found this film to be very interesting after making The Whale. Everything about it didn’t scream Aronofsky, and I wasn’t sure if making something more commercial like this could work. To my surprise, it really works.

Even with some truly extraordinary performances through Elvis and Dune: Part Two, I didn’t know if I was truly sold yet on Butler. Sometimes, you can have someone be fortunate enough to skyrocket to fame, but sometimes, you still need just a few performances to make sure they’re not a fluke. Butler is certainly not one. His performance here is unlike anything he’s done before. He brings a lot of humanity and emotion to a character I couldn’t see anyone else playing. With this performance included, I have noticed one through line when it comes to Butler: he commands the screen.

Opposite of him is a large ensemble of talented cast members with Zoë Kravitz being the sole highlight amongst them. The reason she works so well is due to her chemistry with Butler. You totally believe every bit of their relationship. Kravitz even has a surprising part to play in this story. With that being said, she certainly opens herself up in a role that feels heavily impactful to Butler’s character.

While the rest of the cast give great performances, something still seemed off. It wasn’t until my drive home when I realized that the other supporting characters don’t stand out as much due to their limited screentime, thus resulting in limited chemistry with Butler. Like I said, this is a film that works due to how Butler commands the screen. There is a surprising amount of humor that works due to how committed everyone is, but I still would have liked to have seen more chemistry between Butler and the other supporting characters outside of Kravitz.

This is, without a doubt, Aronofsky’s most commercial film to date. What’s ironic is that Aronofsky is taking a big swing when he’s known for less commercial films. He still brings his darker edge to the film where you’re still squirming in your seat. The film could have had a more consistent tone that’s more in line with Aronofsky’s earlier films. Instead, the film can sometimes screech to a complete halt before it picks back up again. Surprisingly, every single moment, even the more disgusting ones, actually all matters. I am not familiar with the book. Considering the author of that book also wrote the script shows how carefully detailed everything truly was.

In one of my more positive attributes to Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest, I mentioned that he shot it like a love letter to New York. While I still feel that way, this one is a better love letter to New York based on the way everything is captured through the cinematography. I have seen a lot of films, and this one still does something unlike anything I have ever seen before with the way the city is captured. On top of that, I found the score to be electrifying. When you have both the camera and music working in tandem, it’s easy to get hooked from start to finish outside of Butler’s amazing performance.

Thematically, Butler’s character has a lot to offer that may help viewers feel like they can identify with him. Butler has a good heart, but still gets put in a terrible place. While everything that’s happening to him is bad, it feel like the film is capturing him crawling out of this mental Hell that he’s put himself in. When you factor in Butler’s performance, it’s easy to feel fully engrossed.

Overall, Caught Stealing is a surprise that has a lot of great things going for it between Butler’s performance, the script, and the way the city is captured. While the pacing can sometimes slow down too much, the intensity Butler goes through makes the film an electrifying and entertaining watch. You’ll feel like you went through what his character went through, both physically and mentally.

VERDICT: 4/5 (Great)