Caught Stealing (2025)

IMDb plot summary: When his neighbor asks him to take care of his cat, a former baseball prodigy now working as a bartender finds himself in the middle of gangsters without knowing why. He must use all his cunning to survive and understand what is happening.

Directed by Darren Aronofsky. Stars Austin Butler, Regina King, and Zoë Kravitz.

Caught Stealing stars Austin Butler as a washed-up baseball wunderkind who is now an alcoholic bartender. When he finds himself unexpectedly mixed up with his neighbor's shady dealings, he has to pull himself together and figure out how to keep himself and his loved ones safe. This is kind of a departure for Darren Aronofsky, as in many ways, it's just a straightforward action crime movie. I've always been most impressed with Aronofsky when he explores themes of obsession and how that brings people down, and he touches on that a tiny bit in the aspects where the character is having to confront their addiction to alcohol, but the big picture is not as intense as it often is with his films. Instead we get a more straightforward story about an unexpected getting caught up in a criminal scheme and it for the most part follows familiar and expected beats. Austin Butler is charismatic here and he is an easy hero to root for. A little on the expected side for this director, who often is a little bit more experimental, but it is ultimately well done.

🎥 Caught Stealing (2025)

📊 Ranked #1760/4275 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 60

beat Obvious Child (#2117 → #2290)

lost to Twister (#1086 → #932)

lost to Something to Sing About (#1599 → #1592)

lost to The Help (#1857 → #1951)

beat Sweet Bird of Youth (#1989 → #1984)

beat Serpico (#1921 → #1914)

lost to Swiss Army Man (#1888 → #1885)

beat Notes on a Scandal (#1903 → #1992)

lost to Splice (#1895 → #1890)

lost to Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles (#1899 → #1896)

beat Lucky Number Slevin (#1901 → #1967)

beat 1408 (#1900 → #1966)