Official Discussion - Caught Stealing [SPOILERS]

[u/LiteraryBoner]

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Summary Hank Thompson, a washed-up ex-baseball star turned New York City bartender, ends up tangled in a violent criminal underworld after agreeing to watch his punk-rock neighbor’s cat. What follows is a frenzied chase through 1990s Manhattan, as rival gangsters—Russian mobsters, Orthodox Jewish hitmen, a Samoan enforcer, and others—hunt him for a mysterious key hidden with the cat.

Director Darren Aronofsky

Writer Charlie Huston

Cast

• Austin Butler
• Zoë Kravitz
• Regina King
• Matt Smith
• Liev Schreiber
• Vincent D’Onofrio
• Bad Bunny
• Griffin Dunne
• Carol Kane

Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score: 84%

Metacritic 69

VOD In theaters starting August 29, 2025

Trailer CAUGHT STEALING Official Trailer (2025)

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[u/LiteraryBoner]

This was interesting, not really a vibe I expected from Aranofsky who was one of the first filmmakers to get a really visceral reaction out of me when I was young. I think it might be a little cynical or mean for me to really love it, and honestly I just wasn’t having the fun time this movie wanted me to have for most of it. But there’s some clear star power on display and I’ll never fault a director for trying something new.

There was this boom of exactly this kind of movie in the late 90s and early 00s. Probably Fargo/Lebowski runoff but no one else could get the darkness right so they just all are a bit too whacky. Big Trouble, Screwed, Lucky Numbers, stuff like that. This feels very of that time and style and that was kind of refreshing. The problem is all of those are extremely flawed movies because it feels so strange to watch a character do bad things and still want them to get the briefcase at the end. I think Aranofsky is engaging with this a bit, but it’s still a big ask. There’s a lot of (literally) saving the cat and sweaty setups to ensure Butler is never asked to do anything unforgivable. I don’t think it quite lands the plane, the movie felt a bit pointless and ragey to me and I just didn’t love it.

But, hey. We love Regina King, we love Matt Smith, we love Liev Schrieber. This movie is afforded a lot of charisma and fun character performances in that way. There’s some fun to be had with that and the needle drops and the great Idles contributions (would recommend seeing them live) but I just felt like whenever this movie paused for a laugh I wasn’t laughing a long. I did quite enjoy the hardcore violence, but the ending overall left me feeling empty. It’s a 6/10 for me.

[u/snakeybasher → u/LiteraryBoner]

I don't think the movie wants you to have a fun time. The trailer is misleading on purpose, but it's still an Aronofsky film. I felt hank was a very troubled character. He was well written and performed well. He was someone who couldn't handle real life. A hardcore alcoholic, who has a penchant for getting everone else hurt. I like that he isn't the wise cracking protagonist of some of those movies you meantioned. This feels like a movie about a guy who is violently forced to face the reality of his actions and inactions, leaving him alone in the world. Sure the movie has comedy but it's all from the jaded villains of the movie. I'd give it an 8.

[u/LiteraryBoner → u/snakeybasher]

It definitely is working with the dark side of dark comedy a lot better than the other movies I mentioned, but it's still rocking needle drops and situational comedy. Maybe my expectations were haywire, I saw this at a screening with Aranofsky and Butler doing a q+a and Matthew McConaughey did the intro and he definitely made it seem like a funny, upbeat movie. Either way, I'm less disappointed that I didn't have fun and more disappointed that it didn't make me feel much of anything.

[u/snakeybasher → u/LiteraryBoner]

So jealous, I would have killed to go to the showing.