The Stream: The repetitive plot feels derivative of other comedic crime thrillers.

The Big Screen: Unpredictable action sequences and a stacked cast.

The Final Bill: Despite its repetitive plot, Caught Stealing is an unpredictable and entertaining crime comedy.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Writers: Charlie Huston based on his novel of the same name
Stars: Austin Butler, Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Bad Bunny, Matt Smith, Griffin Dunne
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Rating: R for strong violent content, pervasive language, some sexuality/nudity and brief drug use.
Runtime: 1 hour 41 minutes
Production Companies: Columbia Pictures, Protozoa Pictures
Platform: In theaters August 29, 2025
Notable Trailers: Nuremberg, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Is This Thing On?, The Running Man

Alright, Streamers! While the end of the summer is upon us, we’re still in the midst of baseball season. If you’re not catching a game, maybe you’re thinking about sliding into the movie theater for Darren Aronofsky’s comedic crime thriller, Caught Stealing. In it, it’s 1998, and we meet Hank Thompson (Austin Butler), a New York bartender and former high school baseball star with an apparent drinking problem and an obsession with the San Francisco Giants. When Hank’s neighbor, Russ (Matt Smith), hastily leaves for London to see his ailing father, he enlists Hank to watch his cat and gets him mired in a criminal underworld filled with Russian mobsters, Puerto Rican heavies, and Hasidic drug dealers. Drunken stupors, bloody gun fights and New York underbelly hijinks ensue.

Caught Stealing firmly asserts itself as both a crime thriller and a dark comedy. It has the kinetic energy and violent tendencies of the former while having sinister wit and daffy unpredictability of the latter. Aronofsky has put together a movie that balances the tones of both in an interesting way and depicts New York in 1998 with a grittiness that adds character to the overall movie. However, the film feels both repetitive in its plotting and derivative of other comedic crime thrillers – most especially, there’s a Guy-Ritchie-ness about this movie. Aronofsky is less frenetic than Ritchie would be, but the comparison is pretty obvious. In fact, this movie feels like it keeps gearing up to something, but it doesn’t quite get there. Even though it is entertaining and unexpected things happen, there is a sense that it doesn’t reach its potential.

On the other hand, Austin Butler must be the MVP of Caught Stealing. Since he’s in almost every scene, he really sacrifices his body doing all kinds of action-y things. Butler makes Hank endearing and sympathetic even if he does some obviously dumb things. Butler uses more than just his charisma to keep this movie going. I’ll also note that there are some daffy side characters that add spice to this movie. Regina King, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Griffin Dunne, and Carol Kane are all great and memorable in their parts. These characters have funny moments and sinister bits as well. Actually, there are a lot of elements about Caught Stealing that could make it a really great crime thriller, including its cast, setting, music and overall look, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts.

Ultimately, Caught Stealing is an occasionally entertaining and unpredictable crime thriller. It has good comedic moments mixed in with its violent and bloody action sequences. Austin Butler does a great job carrying this film with the assistance of some daffy side characters. However, the repetitive nature of this plot leaves the movie feeling stuck in first gear, so I suggest a bowl of popcorn for a matinee viewing.