When we think of Oscar nominated auteur Darren Aronofsky, "fun" is not necessarily the first word that springs to mind. Brilliant though Requiem For
When we think of Oscar nominated auteur Darren Aronofsky, “fun” is not necessarily the first word that springs to mind. Brilliant though Requiem For A Dream is, beguiling as _The Wrestler_and Black Swan may be, and thought provoking as mother! and The Whale are, it would be fair to say none of them are exactly popcorn flicks. Which only makes the riotous first trailer for Aronofsky’s latest, 90s set New York crime thriller Caught Stealing, all the more enticing. The movie, based on Charlie Huston’s eponymous book, stars Austin Butler as former baseball player Hank, a man who finds himself in way over his head when he agrees to look after punk-rocker pal Russ’ (a mohawked Matt Smith) treasured pet cat, only to find himself inexplicably fighting off multiple mob factions — much to his girlfriend’s (Zoë Kravitz) chagrin. Sound nutty? It looks even barmier — just check out the teaser below;
If Aronofsky’s last attempt to go mainstream — 2014’s Noah — was a bit of a misfire, then there’s no such fear for Caught Stealing. Set to the immortal riffs of punk classic ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go?’, this first trailer — which sees Aronofsky channelling his inner Guy Ritchie — has got it all: Butler and Kravitz’ lusted-up lovers sharing sizzling on-screen chemistry; Matt Smith out-_Morbius_ing himself as an OTT cockney geezer with an ‘RSS HOLE’ reg plate, a leather jacket stuffed lock-up concealing hundreds of thousands of ill-gotten dollars, and an itchy trigger finger; and a stacked supporting cast including Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, Liev Schreiber, Regina King, and Vincent D’Onofrio. Throw in some high-octane car chases, liberal utilize of a baseball bat as an aptly character themed weapon, and eye-catching, era-accurate 90s production design leaning into a scuzzy, grungy vision of 90s NYC, and you’ve got all the makings of a white-knuckle movie that’s set to take Aronofsky back to his scrappier, PI era roots.
Here’s the official synopsis for Aronofsky’s latest: “Hank Thompson (Butler) was a high-school baseball phenom who can’t play anymore, but everything else is going okay. He’s got a great girl (Kravitz), tends bar at a New York dive, and his favourite team is making an underdog run at the pennant. When his punk-rock neighbour Russ (Smith) asks him to take care of his cat for a few days, Hank suddenly finds himself caught in the middle of a motley crew of threatening gangsters. They all want a piece of him; the problem is he has no idea why. As Hank attempts to evade their ever-tightening grip, he’s got to use all his hustle to stay alive long enough to find out…”
What does the mob want with Hank? Is Russ’ precious moggy going to make it out in one piece? And can we get away with a mohawk if Matt Smith can get away with a mohawk? We’ll find out the answers to at least a couple of those questions when Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing arrives in UK cinemas on 29 August. We’ll see you down the front at the pictures, our ancient chinas! Let’s ‘av it!
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