Caught Stealing is an engaging movie as there are many twists and turns in the plot. The film benefits from an excellent cast. The movie is over-plotted, however, making it confusing to keep track of all the characters. The tone is uneven as well, as it shifts from comedy to deadly murder.

Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) works as a bartender at a place on New York City’s Lower East Side in 1998. He is a man’s man, a heavy drinker, with an avid interest in the San Francisco Giants as they try to make the playoffs. Hank regularly calls his Mom to discuss their progress.

After a shift, he hooks up with Yvonne (Zoe Kravitz) and they spend the night together. She later wants him to commit to their relationship since she believes that the romance has gone as far as it can without a more formal tie. If he can’t commit, then she is out.

Hank is awakened suddenly from nightmares. At first it is not clear why he does so. We eventually see a flashback of a younger Hank driving with a friend. They are drinking beers when Hank swerves to miss a cow in the road. We see the car approach a post and then the dream ends.

Russ (Matt Smith), Hank’s neighbor, is leaving to go to London where his father has had a stroke and may die. He entrusts the care of his cat, Bud (Tonic), to Hank. Yvonne wants the cat to stay in Hank’s house. He protests, claiming that he is a dog person. But Yvonne brings over the litter box and it is a fait accompli.

Two Russian mobsters, Alexei (Yuri Kolokolnikov) and Pavel (Nikita Kukushkin), want into Russ’ room. They severely beat Hank when he won’t let them in. Hank wakes up in a hospital room with Yvonne standing over him. He has lost a kidney. Stubborn Hank insists on discharging himself. On the way home, Yvonne informs him that he can no longer drink alcohol.

After the Russians break into Russ’ apartment later, Hank calls the police and speaks to Detective Roman (Regina King). She wonders if he is involved in the illegal activities of his neighbor. She also warns Hank about the ruthless Drucker brothers, Lipa (Liev Schreiber) and Shmully (Vincent D’Onofrio).

Hank finds a key in a plastic coin purse with a fecal design. After the Druckers raid Russ’ apartment, Hank calls Roman.

He goes to his bar intending to give the key to Paul (Griffin Dunne), his boss. In the course of the evening, he self-destructively gets wasted. Arriving home, he dumps his clothes outside.

Later he is interrogated by the Russians and their boss, Colorado (Benito Martinez Ocasio aka Bad Bunny). They torture him to find where the key is by removing his kidney stitches with pliers. Colorado also injures Bud the cat’s leg when he is bitten by the creature. When a neighbor interferes, they leave.

Hank takes Bud to Yvonne’s place. He leaves intending to go to the bar to get the key, which he thinks he gave to Paul. Will Hank find the key? Will he commit to his relationship to Yvonne? What does the key lead to? Where is Ross?

“Caught Stealing” is based on a book by Charlie Huston, who wrote the screenplay. As such, he is responsible for the uneven tone which the movie takes. There are genuinely funny and sometimes madcap moments in this film. But quite a few people, including main characters, die and so the seriousness of what Hank is going through seems minimized by the picture’s lighthearted moments.

There also are many characters involved in this crime movie. They sometimes provide interesting twists to the plot. Yet the randomness of their appearance in scenes can leave your head spinning. This worked well in the book because more detail about each person can be given. Not so in the film.

The mystery of the key and what it opens takes too long to be revealed. In the meantime, red herrings abound. But these seem a bit confusing at times.

The real theme of the movie is Hank’s failure to accept responsibility for the car accident in the past. This lack of courage has affected every aspect of his life up to the events of this story.

Director Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan,” “Requiem for a Dream”) does an excellent job of re-directing attention to this point at key moments. In a way, this is not a hero’s journey so much as an anti-hero’s journey.

My usual complaint about movies unrealistically ignoring the laws of anatomy and physiology is still valid in this picture. However, the loss of a kidney surprised me as this seemed ultra-realistic given the beating Hank suffered.

I was not pleased by the off-camera harm done to a cat. This ends up being a plot device which I won’t spoil, but it irritated me nonetheless as gratuitous. Likewise, the torture scene where Hank has his kidney stitches removed seemed unnecessary to portray.

A shout-out to actress Carol Kane, so good in last year’s “Between the Temples.” She plays Bubbe, the mother of the Drucker brothers. She has very little screen time but is so artful in a limited role. Austin Butler is able to carry the film as a lead. He captures the fear after the nightmares well, and his losses generate genuine emotion.

This is a picture where major actors such as King and Schreiber take smaller roles. The film greatly benefits from these cast choices.

I was intrigued by the use of New York City as a backdrop. I am not sure where this was filmed but I would like to know how much effort was expended to render a past time.

I would not recommend this picture to tweens and younger. It is quite graphically violent in places. For adults, it is engaging due to its likeable lead and the performances of other actors. But it also may be confusing.

Three out of five stars

Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) was a high-school baseball phenom who can’t play anymore, but everything else is going okay. He’s got a great girl (Zoë Kravitz), tends bar at a New York dive, and his favorite team is making an underdog run at the pennant.

When his punk-rock neighbor Russ (Matt 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…

Cast: Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Benito Martínez Ocasio, Griffin Dunne, and Carol Kane
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Screenplay by: Charlie Huston