"Austin Butler has proved himself something of a savant at playing aloof beauties like the impulsive Benny in The Bikeriders, the cultish internet grifter Vernon in , the sociopathic princeling Feyd-Rautha in Dune: Part Two, or Elvis - men whose vacancy only enhances their undeniable magnetism. But in Darren Aronofsky's new '90s-set crime comedy Caught Stealing, Butler plays a character who doesn't get the benefit of being perceived primarily from a distance, and it's a fascinatingly terrible fit."
"It doesn't help that Butler, who, at 34, still looks like a kid when he flashes a particular toothy grin, has the angel face and Hollywood body of someone who is definitely not necking bottles of Miller High Life for breakfast the way Hank does. But there's no spiritual wear on Butler's Hank either, no sense that he has accrued any significant history with the city at all - he moves through Caught Stealing like a visitor participating in an especially elaborate Airbnb Experience,"
Austin Butler excels at playing aloof, magnetic figures such as Benny in The Bikeriders, Vernon, Feyd-Rautha in Dune: Part Two, and Elvis. In Caught Stealing he portrays Hank Thompson, a former baseball phenom who fled small-town California for New York and now bartends while drinking heavily. The physical youthful look and Hollywood charm undermine believability as a ruined, alcoholic ex-athlete. The performance lacks accumulated spiritual wear and a sense of lived-in connection to the city. Hank's only meaningful tie is a skeptical hookup with Yvonne, and his unresolved teenage trauma surfaces in recurring nightmares about the accident that ended his career.
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