Austin Butler – STREAMING MOVIE NIGHT

2025 Sony Pictures Releasing

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 47min

Crime ~ Comedy ~ Thriller

Starring: Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Benito Martínez Ocasio, Griffin Dunne, Carol Kane, Yuri Kolokolnikov and Nikita Kukushkin.

2 Russians, 2 Jews And A Puerto Rican Walk Into A Bar….

Caught Stealing is based on The Crime Novel of the same name by American author Charlie Huston, first published on January 1, 2004.

Henry “Hank” Thompson (Austin Butler) is a bartender living in New York’s Lower East Side. He is a washed up former Baseball Player whose major league ambitions were dashed in a drunken car wreck. Hank survived, but his best friend was killed, and it left Hank with a lot of guilt as well as a drinking problem. After closing the bar and heading home to his apartment, he meets his Punk Rock neighbor Russ (Matt Smith) in the hallway. He tells Hank that his father died and he has to fly to London immediately. He asks him to watch his cranky cat, Bud while he is gone. Hank protests but Russ won’t here of it, forces the cat and the key on him and leaves. It seems simple enough but things go south fast when a pair of brutal Russian mobsters (Yuri Kolokolnikov and Nikita Kukushkin) show up looking for Russ, beating Hank so badly he ends up in the hospital in emergency surgery losing a kidney.

A narcotics detective named Elise Roman (Regina King) questions him and hints at Russ’s shady drug connections to the infamous Hasidic Drucker brothers (Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio). Hank denies that he did anything wrong and tells her that Russ only asked him to watch his cat, and he has no idea why the mobsters beat him so savagely. Hank’s girlfriend Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz) assists Hank back to his apartment after being released. Back home Hank discovers a mysterious key stashed in Bud’s litter box hidden in fake plastic cat poop. He decides to go down to the bar to talk to his boss about missing two days while he was in the hospital. He calls Detective Roman and tells her about the key and proceeds to tie one on while he processes recent events. When Hank comes to the next morning in his apartment, the two Russian Mobsters and a Puerto Rican named Colorado (Benito Martínez Ocasio aka Bad Bunny) threaten him with more violence unless he tells them where the key is.

Things go downhill quickly from there as Hank’s girlfriend Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz) gets caught in the crossfire, leaving him reeling as he dodges beatings, betrayals, and double-crosses from Roman, the Russians, and the Druckers. He hides out, retrieves clues from unexpected spots like abandoned clothes, and scrambles to protect Bud the cat while piecing together who’s after what. Everyone wants that key, and Hank’s past regrets fuel his fight to stay alive amid the chaos of the Lower East Side underworld. Bodies pile up and alliances shatter, Hank races through bars, subways, and shadowy deals, outsmarting killers with quick thinking and sheer luck. He confronts lies from those closest to the mess, weighing loyalty against survival in a city that chews up the weak. The stakes skyrocket with threats hitting personal levels, forcing Hank to tap into the grit that once made him a ballplayer.

Austin Butler shines in this gritty urban thriller, and at times it reminds me of his role in Elvis. He has a very distinctive voice full of southern charm, I honestly can’t believe he didn’t win an Oscar for that. Zoë Kravitz brings fiery vulnerability as Yvonne, Hank’s girlfriend. Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio are hilariously menacing as the two Hasidic Drucker brothers Lipa and Shmully. Caught Stealing delivers a pulpy, high-octane thrill ride through 1998 NYC’s gritty underworld, blending brutal action, dark humor, and relentless twists that keep you hooked from the first beatdown.

Highly Recommended!

Now streaming on Netflix!

2024 Focus Features

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 56min

Crime ~ Drama ~ True Story

Directed by: Jeff Nichols

Starring: Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Boyd Holbrook, Damon Herriman, Beau Knapp, Emory Cohen, Karl Glusman, Toby Wallace, and Norman Reedus.

“Freedom Is For The Fearless.”

THE BIKERIDERS tells the true story of a Motorcycle Club created in Chicago in the 1960’s. In the movie the name was changed to The Vandals, the real name of the club was The Chicago Outlaws. Between 1963 and 1967 Danny Lyon rode with and documented, in pictures and audio recordings, the lives of the members of the motorcycle club as it grew in popularity and size. In 1968 he published a book using the stories and photographs he had documented entitled THE BIKERIDERS, the movie is based entirely on that book. There are scenes from the movie that were recreated from Danny’s photographs, some of which you can see at the end as the credits roll.

The story is mostly told through the eyes and words of Kathy played by Jodie Comer. In a chance encounter at a club bringing a friend money she meets Benny (Austin Butler), a member of the The Vandals and falls for him. Johnny (Tom Hardy), who started the club, convinces her that Benny is ok and that he will make sure that she is safe and looked after within the club. Within five weeks Kathy and Benny are married and she has a front row seat to the activities and events of the club. Benny is Johnny’s right hand man and protegé, and is high up in the hierarchy of the club.

As Kathy tells it Johnny, who is married with two daughters and has a steady job, got the idea for the Motorcycle riding group while watching Marlon Brando in The Wild One. As the Club grew and expanded Johnny struggled to maintain leadership. As members joined the club after coming home from Vietnam, they brought a different element to the club. Instead of beer drinkers, most of them were Pot smokers and heavier drug users, and there started to become a rift between the old and the new. Eventually the new won out and The Outlaws Motorcycle Club became more of a violent crime organization involved in prostitution and drug running, amongst other things.

It is a fascinating look at the birth and growth of one of the most infamous Motorcycle Organizations in the world. Jodie Comer does an excellent job of portraying Kathy. She is an English actress and you have to give her props for her accent in the movie, definitely Midwestern. There are audio recordings and pics of the real Kathy and Jodi Comer absolutely nailed the accent! Tom Hardy as the tough skinned leader was great, reminded me of his role as Forrest Bondurant in Lawless. Austin Butler also did a great job as Benny, going from the clean cut ELVIS to the polar opposite as the notorious motorcycle club member. Michael Shannon was a little different and freaky as Zipco, a guy you just didn’t want to look at funny for fear of retribution.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, I really liked all the characters, and you know I like the True Story ones. I would watch this again, maybe several times.

Highly Recommended….

Two Thumbs Up!