The Usual Gangsters

Caught Stealing | Director: Darren Aronofsky | Cast: Austin Butler, Zoe Kravitz

IN MANY WAYS Caught Stealing is the most straightforward movie that Darren Aronofsky has directed, and almost in the Guy Ritchie zone, with mys­terious gangsters, imbecile friends with weird hair, and a big bag of cash that should not be where it is. Aronofsky is also a direc­tor everyone in Hollywood loves to work with, given his oeuvre includes Black Swan (2010) and The Whale (2022). So it goes. Austin Butler plays a down-at-heel New York bartender who could have been a baseball contender, doing an impersonation of a young Brad Pitt. Matt Smith plays his highly question­able friend and the gorgeous Zoe Kravitz is the girl. Obviously everything goes wrong, a lot of blood is shed, expletives exchanged, and life choices questioned. The pace is frenetic, designed not to make one think, the cam­eos are starsized, and the actors competent at playing befuddled. This is a movie that has been made and watched before.

Austin ButlerCaught StealingDarren AronofskyZoe Kravitz