Iām lucky enough to say I lived in NYC (Manhattan & Queens) in the 90s. I was a college student for most of that period and have many incredible memories of hanging out in the East Village during the time CAUGHT STEALING is set. Back when Greenwich Village was still weird in all the best ways. CAUGHT STEALING captures this moment in time, nearly perfectly. Overall, the world setting itself is better than the sum of all parts. There are some huge swings and a few misses, but this felt like the first true film of āawards seasonā for me.
Director Darren Aronofsky is older than me, and he was born and raised in NYC, unlike me, so he probably has a good idea of how the Village was in the 90s. People like Hank and Yvonne (Austin Butler and ZoĆ« Kravitz, respectively) were a dime a dozen, while punk rockers like Russ (Matt Smith) were a dying breed, but you could still catch them at CBGBs or on St. Markās Place from time to time. All of these types lived in small 5 (or more) floor walk-up apartments. No one had cell phones yet. We still carried quarters to use a payphone, and there were seemingly just two variations on the home answering machine. Every young friend group had a bartender like Hank, and someone who was a paramedic, EMT, or nurse like Yvonne. Everyone had noisy neighbors and nosy neighbors. And even if we didnāt want to admit it, we all knew someone who was probably in the mob. Italian, Russian, Dominican, it doesnāt matter as long as you never crossed them. Whether transplant or native, almost everyone had a weird āit only happens in NYCā story they experienced. But EVERYONE had a crazy story they heard that people swore was true. CAUGHT STEALING is that story. It didnāt happen to you or anyone you know, but a friend of a friend told you about it one night in the restroom at Pyramid Club while industrial DJs worked a crowd a few feet away. Or maybe you heard it at 4 am while grabbing after-hours fries at 7A. It was definitely, probably true.
CAUGHT STEALING doesnāt hit every big swing it takes, but it nails the time and place so well, and the cast is outstanding. Importantly, one of the stars is a cat.šš»And the catās costar is Austin Butler, who is really so much more than the guy who played Elvis a few years ago. Before CAUGHT STEALING, I had not been wowed by any of these earlier performances yet (I have not seen THE BIKERIDERS). Writer Charlie Huston, who based the screenplay on his book of the same name, wastes no time grounding Hank in the reality of living as a dive-bar bartender on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1998. Hank was destined for something much bigger, and Huston expertly weaves Hankās tragic backstory into the dramatic and yet crazy tale of the present day that Hank has unfortunately found himself in the middle of.Ā
As the stakes around Hank escalate into life-or-death situations, the story becomes somewhat less believable. Regina King also turns up as an NYPD detective. I love King as an actress, so anytime sheās part of something, my interest level immediately goes up. The always wonderful ZoĆ« Kravitz is a bit underused, but itās her departure from the story that really ups the ante for whatās truly on the line for Hank. A strong supporting cast, featuring Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Carol Kane, and Benito MartĆnez Ocasio (also known as Bad Bunny), brings the seedy underworld of NYC to life.Ā
CAUGHT STEALING is currently playing exclusively in theatres.
