Adapted from the Charlie Huston novel, “Caught Stealing” is a new film directed by Darren Aronofsky, known for his previous works “Black Swan” and “Requiem For A Dream. The film stars Austin Butler, Zoë Kravitz and Matt Smith.

Butler plays Hank Thompson, a New York City bartender who destroyed his chances at going pro in Major League Baseball. His neighbor, Russ Binder, played by Smith, hurriedly leaves New York City behind for London, leaving Thompson to watch his cat, Bud. Apprehensively along for the ride is Kravitz’s character, Yvonne, a paramedic and Thompson’s girlfriend.

What seems like a simple task rapidly devolves into high-octane thrills, chills and kills. As Thompson accepts his new cat-sitting fate, the situation initially appears normal until a few unsavory characters insert themselves, leaving Thompson hospitalized. Yvonne alerts him to the severity of his injuries as he returns to consciousness, and from here, the action and story fly off a ramp.

Although undisclosed, it’s apparent that Binder operates in some shady dealings that Thompson unfortunately gets involved in. Under the threat of harm to everyone he knows and loves, the pressure rises and requires Thompson to assist the mobsters in securing a hidden cache of cold, hard cash.

The late 90s setting is an energizing choice, removing itself far from the relief of modern technology, with pay phones providing nostalgia and excitement because of the lack of Caller ID. Thompson wrestles with recurring nightmares, born out of recanting his glory days and how they flew past him. What could have been an amazing and promising baseball career instead becomes a constant pressure point that Thompson has to overcome throughout the film.

There’s an incredible meditative moment where Thompson simultaneously moves past his fears and allows them to be dissolved by tuning the television away from his beloved San Francisco Giants. Butler is consistently a great actor, giving his all in every role regardless of whatever script is in front of him. Fortunately, “Caught Stealing” is solid in all facets, allowing him the chance to really shine in the lead role.

The action in “Caught Stealing” is refreshingly unique, as Thompson relies on his physical presence and imposing stature, having been a former baseball player, rather than using any guns. There are even some slick moments where the muscle memory kicks in when Thompson goes for a slide to escape or uses objects to land an incredibly satisfying smack against the antagonists. The film itself isn’t afraid to use weapons, but it’s a welcome change of pace not to devolve him into a character who points and shoots his way out of things.

At first, there appears to be an obvious path within the plot progression, but a jaw-dropping moment occurs much sooner than anticipated. It appears purely as a vehicle for early shock value, but the actual reveal in the final third act is so well-executed that it only makes sense to play out in this manner.

Although there are various villains, one or two from each respective gang, they’re all distinctly different, and each gang is fleshed out individually. The variance in attitudes and methods while pursuing Thompson and the money is what makes each group unique, rather than basic outfit and accent changes.

Aronofsky delivers a gritty, fun and sobering tale about letting go of the past and learning how to use it as a launchpad to move beyond regrets. If not for Butler in the role, the emotional delivery of its message could have easily been dampened. Luckily, the film had excellent casting, and Butler absolutely rose to the occasion in selling the most heart-wrenching scenes in “Caught Stealing.”

The ending to the film is relatively straightforward but well deserved for Thompson and may hopefully set up another story down the line, as the novels are part of a trilogy. “Caught Stealing” is more of what is needed from feature releases: a great cast, a solid script and story and a decent budget.

Marvin Goines is a film/TV critic who has been writing reviews on various types of multimedia since 2021. His work can be found on websites such as ‘The Cosmic Circus’ and ‘Movies We Texted About.’