Dáire’s review
Caught Stealing follows Hank (played by Austin Butler), a baseball lover, bartender, and good son. His friend Russ (played by Matt Smith) has an emergency back home and leaves his beloved cat in Hank’s capable-ish hands. Unfortunately, it seems Russ is mixed up with some bad company, and Hank has been caught in the middle. Most suspense and drama falls on the shoulders of Butler as our flawed point of view character. While not always making the best or right choice, we understand where he is coming from and why he would make certain decisions as his options narrow.
Fleshing out the world is an impressively star-studded cast, and in less than 2 hours, each actor humbly does their job excellently. Adding humour, tension, and thrills throughout the movie. While other films would shoehorn certain characters into extra scenes and marketing, Caught Stealing gives its characters specific roles and trusts its actors to fulfil them in the little time allotted.
This time though Darren Aronofsky is at the helm, you don’t get a mind-bending experience like Pi or Mother!, but the movie is of no less quality. The relatively straightforward narrative gives more time to focus on character and verisimilitude, while still having room for some twists.
Overall, in a year where I have been a little underwhelmed with new releases, Caught Stealing has reinvigorated my hopes for 2025. With fantastic character and being at the forefront, and being able to twine themes of owning mistakes and living in the present, this is one of my favourites of the year.
Aaron’s review
Caught Stealing, starring Austin Butler and Matt Smith, is a great new movie from Darren Aronofsky, who also directed The Whale and Mother! It centres around a young, alcoholic, failed baseball player who regrets the past and hasn’t been able to move on. It is adapted from Charlie Huston’s crime novel of the same name from 2004. Tonally, it is great as it manages to straddle the line between dark and gritty while being gleeful and witty in certain aspects.
Austin Butler plays Hank, a failed, peaked in high school, baseball player who is now an alcoholic bartender in New York, while his paramedic girlfriend Yvonne, played by Zoe Kravitz, is trying to get him to put his life back together and prove to her that he has the capabilities and maturity to be a serious item. This comes crumbling down when Hanks neighbour, Russell, played by Matt Smith, asks Hank to mind his cat while he visits his father and Hank reluctantly accepts but unbeknownst to him, this will result in his downfall and life being turned on its head when different gangs start showing up to Russ’s apartment, of which results in Hank discovering he has been wrapped up in a larger scheme that has resulted in him being the fall guy.
All in all, it’s a very enjoyable movie and has unexpectedly become one of my personal favourites of the year thus far. It’s grounded and grungey; the late 90s theme lends itself so well to the spectacle. Austin Butler plays the role really well, and some particular highlights for me were the soundtrack, cinematography, and stunts. I would absolutely recommend this one and would give this a solid:
Seán’s review
Caught Stealing, directed by Darren Aronofsky, stars Austin Butler as Hank, a bartender who gets dragged into a criminal conspiracy after his punk rock neighbour asks him to mind his cat.
At first, I thought the film was going to be a more upbeat action comedy, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that the film was a lot more dramatic and suspenseful, with a strong lead. Seeing the protagonist struggle with his past trauma and also trying to get out of his current situation made the film interesting, as he was not your typical action lead, and he spends most of the film on the back foot. Austin Butler shines as Hank, delivering a strong and likable performance that gives his character some depth. The antagonists do a great job at being a physical and psychological threat to Hank, unlike other action heroes who would usually be able to fight their way out. Hank is very much outmatched and outnumbered, making them a more serious threat.
Visually, I think the movie did a great job giving the film a grungy 90s look, and the film is well shot, and the action is easy to follow. Matt Smith and Zoe Kravitz, who plays Hank’s neighbour and girlfriend, give standout performances despite their smaller screen time. Overall, I enjoyed this film more than I expected to. I went in expecting a more by-the-numbers action comedy and got an action movie that had good characters, performances, and kept me on edge the whole time. I give Caught Stealing a strong:
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