Hank (Austin Butler) is a bartender in New York whose life gets turned upside down when his British neighbour Gus (Matt Smith) asks him to look after his cat as he heads home to see his ailing father. Because it seems Gus has something that a number of undesirable groups of people are after, which puts Hank firmly in the firing line. 

Caught Stealing has the template of a down on his luck loser who is thrust into the sort of caper that will throw lots at him as he charms his way through to the other side. But this film is directed by Darren Aronofsky whose back catalogue is rather harder edged than that. So this is Aronofsky letting his hair down and having a bit of caper fun with an absolutely brutal undertone. Every time you find yourself chuckling as Hank takes another hit you need to be sure in the knowledge that another moment that will make you wince is just around the corner. Oh and it would not be an Aronofsky film without a religious or Jewish element, so of course there are two incredibly scary Jewish gangland criminals as pivotal characters. 

The plot is suitably twisty but also hugely focused on character. Hank is obsessed with baseball and the 1998 setting means that his beloved San Francisco Giants are currently playing some pivotal games. But the film’s baseball pun title and the character’s love of baseball is not a surface level affectation. Hank’s life was defined by his relationship with his mother, his baseball training and a trauma that impacted him and those he loved that places him where he is today and shapes his responses to his situation. All of this information is slowly fed to us via Hank’s nightmares, relationships and behaviours. His girlfriend Yvonne (Zoe Kravitz) is far more pragmatic than Hank but is hugely protective of him. As he falls into this rabbit hole of gangland violence she offers him love, care and sensible advice on how he should move forward. Whether he is in a position to take that on board is another matter. But the relationship between the two feels vibrantly real and promising. 

And then you have a smorgasbord of reprobates and law enforcement. Matt Smith is hugely over the top as the British punk rocker who kicks off all of the problems by dropping his cat off at his next door neighbour’s apartment. The Russian muscle led by Colorado (Bad Bunny) are brutally violent, whilst the Jewish gangsters (Vincent D’Onofrio and Liev Schreiber) have a slightly more zen approach to their torturing and killing thanks to their caring matriarch Bubbe (Carol Kane). All of whom are being hunted down by Detective Roman (Regina King). 

All the characters fit perfectly into the chaotic and nightmarish journey that Hank travels along with the casting of Griffin Dunne as bar owner Paul feeling remarkably apt as he was the star of Martin Scorsese’s After Hours which could almost be a companion piece. 

Overall I loved every minute of it. Aronofsky has always been a favourite film maker of mine and it is great to see him doing something that feels scrappier and lighter. Although as mentioned earlier that does not mean there are too many pulled punches. Austin Butler has proved himself to be a superb actor over the last few years and he is exceptional here as Hank. The supporting actors and characters are all wonderful and colourful. The soundtrack from Rob Simonsen with original songs by IDLES is suitably gritty and on point for the subject matter. And the main character carries a cat around the city of New York just like in one of my other favourite films of all time, Inside Llewyn Davis. 

Superb.