Caught Stealing

CAUGHT STEALING is the shocker of the summer for me. An action-packed, hilarious, violent and surprising tale, it's packed wall-to-rundown wall with memorable characters.

This is a Darren Aronofksy movie? Huh?

His movies have either left me cold (Noah, The Fountain) or I have outright HATED them. The self important, 2017 "Mother" being the top of that garbage heap.

But this is a very different Aronofsky. Film snobs will say that he's sold out. I'd say that he's finally created a vehicle that supports the rich characters he's so great at depicting.

Everyone you meet in this film is worth meeting. Some are mad, some are hilarious but all are about to experience a week that will change their lives.

Austin Butler (Elvis, Dune) is a superb lead as former MLB prospect Hank Thompson. He's a nice kid whose been living in the squalor of a 1998 NYC that's riddled with graffiti and the shadows of the still standing twin towers. This is the first film in a long time for me that captures the Manhattan grit of Friedkin's "The French Connection".

Hank talks to his Mom every day, mostly about the San Francisco Giants and their place in the playoffs.

He's a bartender who's not shy about enjoying the wares. His casual girlfriend Yvonne (a great Zoe Kravitz) pops by on occasion at 3am and returns to Hank's shoddy apartment for some fun. Butler and Kravitz have killer chemistry on screen.

When Hank's neighbor, Russ (Matt Smith from Doctor Who, sporting a giant Mohawk and plenty of studded leather) has to head off to London to see his Dad, who's just had a stroke, he asks Hank to watch his vicious cat.

This starts a chain reaction of events that blast between hilarious and tragic, and that Aronofsky somehow balances to perfection.

Suddenly every crime faction in NYC is after Hank.

Russian henchmen arrive and beat the hell out of him. They are also absolutely hilarious, a Mutt & Jeff combo with the taller one unable to keep the shorter one under control. The violence is explosive but there are genuine laugh out loud one liners throughout.

The henchmen's boss, Colorado, is well played by Bad Bunny. He's scary as hell and poor Hank is in way over his head as the violence and intimidation ratchets up.

Things get much scarier when two killer Hebrew assassins come after Hank. Lipa and Shmully are lethal dudes in traditional garb and Liev Schreiber & Vincent D'Onofrio are having the time of their lives playing them. I'd like to see a sequel featuring these two.

They're as lethal as Schwarznegger & Stallone and made me laugh like hell.

There's a nightclub showroom showdown from Lipa and Shmully that would have felt at home in DePalma's "Scarface".

Regina King (Watchmen, Ray) is Detective Roman, assigned to a case that seems to reverberate across every group in the criminal underworld. King is a bad ass from start to finish, seeing the innocence in Hank and playing against it.

Even the small part of Hank's boss at the bar is perfectly played by Griffin Dunne (American Werewolf in London, After Hours). There are no small or poorly developed characters in the film. Like it's NYC setting, it's overflowing with fascinating people.

There are a couple of very surprising turns that reminded me I was watching an Aronofsky film.

I enjoyed the hell out of this movie.

The summer movie season isn't over after all.

CAUGHT STEALING delivers one of the funniest, most violent and action-packed films of the season, with Butler driving one home run scene after another over the center wall.

This is my favorite Aronofsky film by light years, earning an appreciative and surprising A!