Caught Stealing blends smoldering romance with gonzo thriller violence in a grungy, late-1990s New York crime caper. Darren Aronofsky returns to frenetic, chaotic filmmaking after two claustrophobic dramas, injecting the film with cruelty and relentless momentum. The film adapts Charlie Huston's 2004 novel and leans into a central romance while retaining dark action that threatens the leads. The Lower East Side of 1998 is recreated with lush, lived-in details that evoke grit under the nails. Austin Butler stars as Hank, a former baseball prodigy haunted by a career-ending car crash, alcoholism, and the loss of his best friend.
At first blush, Darren Aronofsky seems like the least-likely candidate for something like Caught Stealing. Sony's new crime caper, adapted from Charlie Huston's 2004 novel of the same name, was positioned as a spicy- if razor-edged - late-summer romp, leaning heavier on the central romance between its red-hot stars than on the dark action that threatens to tear them apart. It felt like the latest offering from Edgar Wright or Guy Ritchie, not the guy who gave us Black Swanand Requiem for a Dream.
Caught Stealing actually has a lot more than smoldering romance on its mind, and up its sleeve. Aronofsky wastes little time reminding us that he is, in fact, the guy who's delivered some of the most gonzo thrillers this side of the millennium. After two claustrophobic crash-out films in Mother! and The Whale, the director is back to his old stomping grounds, and all the better for it.
Collection
[
|
...
]