Caught Stealing: Kind of gorgeous, actually.

TLDR: it's crazy and violent and shocking and funny, and actually gorgeous. Go see it.

If you didn't know that the film was coming out on the 29th August, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this film wasn't just set in 1993, but made then too. The script has that super incredulous sequence of events thing that Hollywood seems to have grown out of - characters making wacky choices that will clearly lead them into mischief.

The hero literally saves a cat at multiple points. So, super retro, by-the-book script, if you know you know.

In the end though, it just reminded me how much films before this "Era of Irony" would land, well. There are earnestness cues we need to bring back to modern cinema, and in some ways, Aronofsky manages to make the case to revive them - heroes "who didn't ask for this", being the main device.

Before I tell you how this film landed so gracefully, I must first warn you, this is Aronofsky - this is a bam bam shoot shoot film. People die - people you like and people you don't. Some events happen with such whiplash effect as to actually be comedic - you're not even sure if it's meant to be a joke, and a character will arise and go "SIKE!". Alas - this film is a lot more serious and dangerous than you may have thought from the marketing, or from the modern cinema going experience - we're not on Disney's land anymore.

I found myself forgiving the film it's senseless raucousness around Act 2, as the true nature of the film starts to unfold and the metaphors and layers start to develop - no spoilers, but the film is trying to have a hectic effect on you, because it knows where it's trying to take you, and contrast is king.

At the centre of the story is how we process grief - what that feels like, maybe specifically for men, more than anyone. Austin Butler has never been more talented, in my opinion - I've been witness to his brand of vulnerable madness in a wealth of films prior, but this was the first time I really got it. His version of Hank is something no other actor could have accessed, and by the end of the film, I was fully sold on his A-list status

Sidenote: I have a theory about A-List Male Actors, specifically. You can only really break into the A-list, as a guy, if you're able to be radically vulnerable on camera. That's what makes the strength believable, and tugs at the heartstrings so everyone wants to be you or be with you. Butler hit those notes here really well, in an almost frenetic way - and he matched the energy of the film perfectly.

Anyway - though the script felt dated, neither the message nor the performances did, which I adored. For some, this will end up being a comfort movie (which, omg), but otherwise, I think it may start to inspire others to also reimagine the 90's Indie formula, and finesse all the most earnest parts of it so they can reintegrate back into the modern day.