Caught Stealing is one of those movies that sounds way cooler in theory than what it actually delivers on screen but I still like it enough to give it an 8/10 something that is weird no this post there is going to be a love and hate, not saying its bad but damn its such a weird experience watching this thing, like you are suppose to laugh and you do but its like some scenes start great and in the middle they screw it up and I dont know if all this was on purpose because there are still certain aspects of the movie that are very controversial like clothing, Math Smith character looks, the cat Bud. Darren Aronofsky doing a Guy Ritchie style movie sounds good on paper except the big problem here is the movie never fully commits too being one or the other, your left with something that feels like two different movies fighting for screen time. Austin Butler is carrying this entire thing on his back, I mean that literally, the dude is in every single scene doing heavy lifting, he does an amazing job playing this regular guy named Hank, used too have dreams about being a baseball star back in high school, talks too his mom on the phone about the San Francisco Giants, watches games at work, lives a pretty simple boring life until everything goes too absolute hell. The whole mess kicks off because Hank agrees too watch his neighbors cat named Bud, neighbor is this punk rock British guy named Russ who needs too go too England, his dad is sick or dying or something like that, sounds simple enough until suddenly Hanks getting his ass kicked by Russian mobsters, these guys beat him so bad he loses an entire kidney because they thought he was running away with their money, wakes up in the hospital confused as hell, now hes trying too figure out where some mysterious key is hidden for a locker that holds $4 Million, people around him keep dying left and right, the body count piles up, Hank is stuck in the middle of this shit storm he didnt ask for.
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The movie takes place in 1998, it really does feel like the late 90s with actual cameras from that era, he nails that late 90s vibe completely, no cell phones anywhere, Twin Towers still standing in the New York skyline, everything looks kinda grainy, like your watching something that was buried in a time capsule for twenty five years. But the movie at certain point gets lost and real messy with the tone, sometimes the movie is trying too be funny, sometimes its trying too be dark, sometimes its both at the exact same time, those two tones just dont blend right so easy, its like oil and water, its like watching a comedy that suddenly turns to aggressive, insults can be funny but only until a certain limit, not that they were just insulting each other but just as an example, the movie goes to both ends of the rope and never stays in the middle. There are moments where I was laughing at something Austin Butler said, he does have a comedy side that suits him depending on the script but this time the movie doesnt help that much when all of the sudden something brutal happens, someone gets shot in the head, the cat gets kicked by one of the Russian guys, I am sitting there going wait why did they cut off the scene this way? they just ruin it, is this suppose too make me laugh? because it cant be both sick to the stomach and funny, neither one is working the way it should. The pacing in the middle section drags quite a bit too, no way around that fact, theres this whole chunk where Hank is just running around New York, trying too piece together what happend the night he got blackout drunk, he lost the key somewhere, cant remember where he put it, I guess this is part of the journey that at times felt they were completely lost waiting for something interesting too happen, they are basically scavenge hunting, rinse and repeat for like twenty minutes straight. Matt Smith plays the neighbor Russ, who they marketed him in the trailers like he was gonna be a way bigger part of the story, I like Matt Smith alot from many of his roles but mostly from HOTD, the guys got range, does his punk rock British guy thing, mohawk, leather jacket, but over all he doesn't get too much screen time, such a waste of a good actor who could of added way more too the story.
The cat honestly gets more screen time than half the human characters, Im a cat person and love "Bud" with his hurt paw, his attitude, its like the movie wanted you to care more about the cat than anyone else, thats not a good sign when the animal is more interesting. Zoe Kravitz plays Hanks girlfriend Ivonne, they have great chemistry together in the early scenes, they do care for each other, you want too see them figure there shit out, she wants him too stop drinking, face his past traumas, hes trying but keeps falling back into old habits, even sounds familiar so at least it work for me, here is the part, until now you can tell how there are some aspects of the movie that I love and others I just hate and still like the movie. Next is exactly a moment I hated and its she getting killed halfway through the movie, it feels like such a waste of a good character, we barely got too know her beyond being the supportive girlfriend, she had this whole backstory about being something medical related, she just dies and becomes motivation for Hank too keep going. The action scenes are fine but nothing special if we are being honest here, theres a foot chase through Chinatown that looks cool, Austin Butler jumping over stuff, sliding under things, a car chase that ends with Hank crashing into stuff, nearly dying, even some shootouts in a bar that get bloody fast, all this scenes felt very creative but just that cool scenes, its like the movie is a bunch of clips, I would have prefer if they gave more character build up to Russ and kept him with Hank, but for the most part the movie is fueled by guild, running from your past mistakes, those two things dont always mix together too well.
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Austin Butler has this whole backstory, car accident in high school, killed his best friend, ruined his baseball career before it even started, he has nightmares about it every single night and wakes up in a cold sweat reliving the crash, the hole event is something that hunts him down for ever and marks his character for the entire movie, it really makes you want the guy to get over it and pass the page so he can move on because of the weight he is carrying for a life mistake. Butler sells the hell out of those emotional moments, his face, his voice but the movie keeps cutting away from that depth, shows us Russian gangsters yelling at each other in broken English or these two Jewish hitmen played by Liev Schreiber, Willem Dafoe, quirky characters, there dressed in traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing, they visit there mom whos played by Carol Kane, this two hitmen work for the Russians, the movie is kinda of a mess to properly explain the hole thing of why now Hank and Russ are on this ugly situation but the truth is Hank is the innocent here, all he did was feed Bud and access Russ apartment. I wanted too love this movie more than I actually did, the pieces are all there, good director, great lead actor, interesting story, such a cool era too work with and they did get the 90s vibe clean, but the execution just misses the mark, I cant call this a great movie but its good, its watchable, its entertaining enough for a one time watch but its not what it could of been.
I will say the ending does land properly and almost makes up for some of the earlier problems, Hank finds out that the two Jewish hitmen killed Ivonne, collateral damage too send him a message so here is whe he snaps, crashes the car there all riding in, straight into a concrete pole at full speed, kills them both instantly, really brutal scene and its hilarious because its like he when through literally his worst nightmare crashing again, its like he finally said screw it I need to crash again so I can get over with like this time he did something good on the same act, taking responsibility for his actions even if that means becoming a killer himself, it works as a character moment even if it feels a little too neat. He ends up escaping too Mexico, all the money stuffed in a bag, the cat tucked under his jacket, sends half the cash too his mom, then he is just sitting at a bar on a beach somewhere warm, watching baseball on TV but he turns it off, hes finally ready too move on from his obsession with what could of been. Its a solid ending, gives Hanks journey some closure but also leaves you wondering if he actually changed for the better or choose violence over his soul, if he just became more numb too everything after all the violence, all the death he caused, but this might be just me trying to over complicate things but honestly Butler has given us this kind of complex and deep characters in the past where he plays them out awesome but the ending felt more like I just watched something that was almost great but fell short. Overall Caught Stealing is a fun movie to watch, you are going to laugh and feel for the characters, specially for Bud, its not peak crime thriller but its something in between that doesnt always work, Austin Butler is fantastic, carries the movie even when the script lets him down, the 90s setting is done really well, great attention too detail everywhere you look, there are enough interesting ideas here too keep you engaged, even when the execution felt flat at times, I would still give it a weird 8 out of 10, for this weird movie that is worth watching once especially if your a fan of Austin Butler.
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