Caught Stealing Roses

            Austin Butler has been having a come up recently. He has been in big movies like Dune and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Then he got the chance to be a star in a couple of movies like Elvis and last year’s The Bike Riders. As far as his star vehicles go, I preferred The Bike Riders much more than Elvis, and in his new movie Caught Stealing, he plays a role much closer to The Bike Riders, and I loved it.

            Caught Stealing starts off with Hank being a typical cool bar tender in the late 90s in New York, and when he gets off of work, him and his girlfriend, Yvonne, head back to his place, but before they get inside, his neighbor, Russ, asks if Hank will watch his cat while he runs to England to check on his dad, who had just had a stroke. This initially seems like an innocuous ask, until someone came knocking on Russ’s door, and Hank was there to answer, but he did not give the answers that the Russians were looking for, so they beat Hank up to the point where he had to have his kidney removed.

            Hank goes to the cops, but the problem slowly gets worse, it is no longer just the Russians involved, but there is also the Jewish mafia, and unsurprisingly, the cops also join into the list of people against Hank. So he is basically on the run, and when you mess with the wrong people, they start to come after your loved ones, so his girlfriend was in peril, and they also started to threaten to come for his mother, but then Russ came back, and instead of having the solution, he just added to the problem.

            This movie had great pace. It felt like there was not a dull moment throughout, and it never felt like it was entirely predictable. There were times when I thought I had figured it out but would find out that I did not. Also, the diversity of the characters and their motivations really added to the journey. All of this was helped by excellent acting and an entertaining story.

            The 1998 New York setting also added to my enjoyment. They leaned into the whole grunge vibe completely from the music to the costumes to the interior designs and furniture style. It all represented the time period well, and good music will always have me more engaged in a movie, and the rock soundtrack drew me into it. It is definitely a soundtrack that I will revisit on a music Friday. Also, their emphasis on baseball was a 90s thing undoubtedly as now baseball is dying a slow death in popularity.  

            The back story to Hank’s character was baseball centric, thus the title. He was supposed to be a high pick in the MLB draft, but when driving around after a game, he was drinking beers with a teammate, but he had to swerve to miss a cow, and they slammed into a telephone pole, which killed his friend, and the wreck destroyed Hank’s knee, so he was no longer able to play baseball.

A solid backstory to explain his character, but they did add some undue baseball elements that I hated, like when he is getting beat up in the beginning of the movie, they play the sound of a baseball bat cracking each time he is kneed or slammed into the wall, and then when he crashes his car at the end of the movie, they play the sound of a baseball organ. It felt more silly than actually adding anything of substance, and it temporarily took me out of the trace that the movie had captured me within.

            Austin Butler looked like he fit this role perfectly. Somehow, he just looks like he should always be bruised and a little bloody. Like he is down on his luck, but that is not going to stop him. He also looked like a baseball dude. With his cap on backwards and his shaggy hair, he looked like someone that belonged in the MLB. I hope he gets another chance to open an original story, but Weapons, which came out two weeks ago, and Jaws, which came out 50 years ago, both made more money at the box office this weekend, so we will see.  

            The other movie I saw this week was The Roses. It starred Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Coleman, and it was about their relationship as it slowly crumbled. The parts of this movie that work are the elevated banter, and their British accents add to the enjoyment. The movie is jam picked with the two of them sharing harsh jabs, but the jabs are not just harsh, but they also feel academic with the depth of language they are using.

            Honestly, the first half or even three quarters of this movie are so much fun. The story line of Cumberbatch’s character being at the top of the architectural world and watching his dreams literally crumble. Then Coleman’s character opens a restaurant, and she slowly rises to fame, which leads to resentment in the relationship as they struggle to deal with each other’s successes and failures. Cumberbatch is forced to become the stay-at-home dad, and his rearing strategy is much different from Coleman’s. He is strict and goal focused. He turns his kids into athletes that are on a strict diet, and their relationship with their mother slowly fades.

            It is an interesting look into what matters. Family life, a career, or a work life balance. Initially it seems like Cumberbatch is more career focused, until his downfall, and then Coleman becomes career focused. Neither of them had a work life balance once they were on top of their game, and it affected their relationship with their children and each other. Success always comes with sacrifices. It is just about choosing what you are willing to sacrifice.

            So the part where the movie lost me came from their slowly escalating fight. Initially it seemed like normal mundane potential divorce fighting. Insults, cold shoulders, and the likes, but then it escalated to fictional levels. Coleman sent an AI created video of Cumberbatch doing drugs and admitting to creating a faulty building on purpose to his bosses, so he got fired from his new job and his comeback ended. He responded by putting hallucinogenic mushrooms and toe fungus in the food she was serving, and he canceled all her food orders and replaced them with orders for cheese whiz. The ultimate fight includes intentionally giving her raspberries that she is deathly allergic to on purpose, the shooting of a gun, and the throwing of a knife, and despite being incredibly ridiculous, it loses what made it fun. The high-level academic jabs.

            Overall, Caught Stealing is the much better movie of the two, and it is well worth seeing in theaters, whereas The Roses feels more like a movie to watch at home despite its star power. I personally loved having Andy Sandberg in it, but none of their star power lived up to the performance that Austin Butler gave. He was simply incredible, and although I do not think his name has the clout now to open a blockbuster level movie, I think after this it should start to have that reputation. He was even capable of doing the athletic scenes. I hope this is a good sign of what is coming. So far, the movie year has been rough, but I have high hopes for this fall and awards season! The Roses 3 stars and Caught Stealing 4 Stars!