Caught Stealing Reviews: Aronofsky’s Latest Film
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing has received generally positive reviews from critics. The latest film from the Black Swan director holds a 68% score on Metacritic and 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. Starring Austin Butler, Matt Smith, and Zoë Kravitz, the film—unlike most of Aronofsky’s works—premiered at fall festivals and will hit theaters across the U.S. this coming weekend.
Caught Stealing follows Hank Thompson, a former baseball player who, in 1990s New York, is drawn into the world of underground crime in order to survive. The film is based on the novel by Charlie Huston, who also penned the screenplay and produced the film alongside Aronofsky and Butler.
In a curious move, Sony is releasing the film in the final weeks of summer, a period typically marked by declining box office turnout. The studio previously released Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later in U.S. theaters this summer.
Variety writes: “Caught Stealing may seem like a departure from the character-driven, intensely subjective films of the Pi director—ranging from The Wrestler to The Whale—but in truth, Aronofsky brings us closer to Hank than to any of his other characters.”
Collider comments: “At first glance, Caught Stealing doesn’t look like what we’d expect from an Aronofsky film. But dig deeper, and it becomes the clearest example of a crime thriller only he could make. The film isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty and wander into dark places, yet it always manages to circle back to where the story becomes entertaining again.”
SlashFilm notes: “Sometimes you just want to watch a movie about a handsome guy trying to get out of trouble while taking care of a grumpy, fluffy cat. More modern films like Caught Stealing would do us good.”
IndieWire points out: “Despite its lively recreation of 1998 New York—through costumes, music, locations, and equipment—the film often feels artificial, with disjointed plot points that don’t quite land. At least until the final third, when Aronofsky finally pulls the disparate threads together, revealing glimpses of what he set out to achieve.”
The Independent concludes: “Whatever the genre, Aronofsky tends to oscillate between two extremes: savagely painful or savagely sentimental.”
