Darren Aronofsky is a director whose films I struggle to recommend. Not due to his filmmaking ability, I firmly believe the man is a genius. But he has a certain weirdness to his films that many may find distasteful. I rewatched Requiem for a Dream, which I would consider to be his most complete work, and it rattled me in a way that I have not felt since first watching it. It is impeccably provocative, and not many films make me more uncomfortable than that one. Other films of his, like the popular Black Swan or Mother! manage to be extremely uncomfortable at points too, but none as much as that. He has an excellent knack for executing a vicious narrative progression that leaves you absolutely floored by the end. The first time I watched Requiem for a Dream, I was in tears just from the pure intensity of it, let alone the profuse bleakness and heartbreak that Aronofsky does not pull back on. Putting aside the content on offer for these films, this intensity is not something everybody can tend to handle, so it is therefore difficult to recommend a lot of his work. Generally, his films have this factor, or they are dull and a bit strange, like Noah or The Whale, two films that have good aspects but do not quite live up to his other work. This brings us to Aronofsky’s new feature, Caught Stealing, which sits somewhere in a grey area between these two lanes of filmmaking he approaches. At times, it does not feel like one of his films at all. However, I found myself at a loss when I finished watching this, thinking it didn’t feel like one of his films, and yet it was still a lot of fun.

Caught Stealing follows Hank (Austin Butler), a young bartender living in New York City. Living away from his mother, he makes an effort to call her every day, mostly to talk about their beloved baseball team, the San Francisco Giants. He has a pretty uneventful day-to-day life, but hooks up with his girlfriend Yvonne (Zoe Kravitz), with their relationship slowly getting more serious. However, after agreeing to look after his neighbour Russ’ (Matt Smith) cat, he finds himself dragged into a criminal conflict in his neighbourhood. Some strange men beat him up and leave him for dead, raving about a missing key that Hank knows nothing about. What’s worse is that two bearded men (Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio) are looking for him to see what has happened, who have been deemed incredibly dangerous by police detective Roman (Regina King). Falling into a conspiracy that threatens him and those he loves, Hank, whilst battered and bruised, must find this key, what it opens, and how Russ and his cat are connected to the whole ordeal.

Beat for beat, Caught Stealing‘s narrative is probably one of the most involving and fun romps of the whole year, perfectly plotted out by the author of the book this is based on, Charlie Huston. By adapting this book, Aronofsky obviously could not get too weird like he would usually, making this far and away his most accessible film to date. When considering some of his other work, this is a relatively low bar, but this does feel like a film for everyone. This is not the most original narrative ever written, with your typical crime film twists and turns at each opportunity. But there is a great amount of heart and humour in this story that sets it above the rest. It is full of lots of strange supporting characters that can be, at times, one-dimensional, but are still well done for different reasons. Russ is your token British character in a 90s-inspired crime film like this, fully playing up to the stereotypes. Matt Smith hams up his accent, and he is a really funny character. He is not very thoroughly explored, but he is completely functional to the narrative, to advance the story, and also to entertain. Most supporting characters in this story operate on this level, making the overall depth feel quite pedestrian. Rather than having a character-driven narrative like Aronofsky’s previous work, this is very plot-heavy, and supporting characters are more vessels for the narrative to operate rather than a means to get invested in. Still, for the kind of film this is, the supporting characters are fun and keep the plot fruitful with weird events that keep it constantly exciting.

Caught Stealing is an interesting case because it breaks out of the mould that Aronofsky has set. It uses elements of his style and usual subtextual readings, but it truly is a different beast entirely. The shortcomings of depth with the supporting characters are not present in Hank, and although the film is very plot-driven, he shows a familiar attention to Aronofsky’s other central characters. In a less aggressive, in-your-face way, Aronofsky is dealing with the human psyche and self-destruction, perhaps with a greater degree of subtlety. Hank is an interesting character, and his backstory gets more fleshed out as the film progresses. We see flashes of his past and trauma, more than justifying his dependency on alcohol. His beating given to him forces him to stop drinking, and therefore confront his past problems whilst dealing with the chaos he finds in front of him. The blend of these stories works very well, and it certainly helps that Butler’s performance makes him so charismatic and likeable that we are really in tune with him. He goes through an absurd amount of physical and emotional damage during this film, and some of the swings made by the narrative are genuinely unexpected and leave you empty. Aronofsky’s obsession with the macabre shines in these moments, perfectly accentuating the pain through his direction. Though this film is not fully centred around him and is mostly focused on the plot, his depth and personal story are a fulfilling side dish to the narrative meal on offer here, showing glows of Aronofsky’s past prowess and blending it into a genre that usually lacks it.

This is not Aronofsky’s best film, but that does not mean it is not his most enjoyable to watch. Though the filmmaking is still well done, this is more of a film to just be swept up by its rollercoaster of a plot and go through its motions as they come. There are still elements within that will appease hardcore Aronofsky fans, but if you go into this thinking you are getting one of his usual character-study films, you will be disappointed. Though after being a bit taken aback by this different type of film from him, I still found myself fully engaged in the film’s plot and central character, enough so to not care at all. It just shows some versatility from Aronofsky, and that can only be a good thing. This is definitely a film that everybody can enjoy, and I would definitely recommend it.