With the scummy Caught Stealing, Darren Aronofsky delivers a grimy neo-noir that could have played in the same multiplexes it’s set in—1998. Pulpy, frenetic, and scored to a killer IDLES soundtrack, it often feels like one of the many Tarantino knockoffs that crowded the decade’s screens. That derivativeness keeps it from carving out much identity, but it doesn’t stop the film from being an enthralling, grimy romp through a bygone New York City.

Austin Butler stars as Hank, a former Major League Baseball hopeful whose dreams were shattered by a car accident. Now reduced to slinging drinks at a dive bar, he finds solace in his increasingly sultry romance with Yvonne (Zoe Kravitz). Their chemistry crackles, imbuing the film with a surprisingly tender core.

But things unravel when Hank agrees to feed the cat of his eccentric neighbor Russ (Matt Smith). Suddenly, Russian mobsters, crooked cops, and Hasidic gunmen converge on Hank’s Lower East Side apartment in search of a mysterious item. What follows is a gauntlet of violent misadventures—bar-basement shootouts, botched deals, even a mitzvah gone sideways—that spiral Hank into the criminal underworld.

Aronofsky keeps the chaos visually crisp, unafraid to dispatch his rogues’ gallery with brutal efficiency. At its best, Caught Stealing leans into its potboiler trappings, delivering visceral set-pieces that bustle with lurid energy. Yet Aronofsky’s attempts to graft a weighty character study onto Hank often falter; ironically, Butler’s everyman is sometimes the least compelling presence on screen.

While far from essential, Caught Stealing thrives as a rollicking, violent throwback—grimy, stylish, and pulsing with enough scuzzy flair to feel right at home on a video-store shelf.