Caught Stealing (2025), Austin Butler, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Caught Stealing is the latest Darren Aronofsky film starring Austin Butler, Zoë Kravitz, Liev Schreiber and Bad Bunny.
The crime/comedy/thriller has Butler as a young man suddenly embroiled in a struggle to survive in 1990s New York City.
I like how unexpected this is as an Aronofsky film. The reasonably fast pace also appeals, and I can’t deny that something about this reminds me of my favourite of Guy Ritchie’s movies, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), of course
Are you inclined to make time for Caught Stealing?
Regina King, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Griffin Dunne, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Gregg Bello, McKinzie J. Scott, Bianca Ghezzi, Nikita Kukushkin and Action Bronson also star.
I had certain expectations about what The Perfect Couple, creator Jenna Lami’s six-part crime/drama/mystery series starring Nicole Kidman, Dakota Fanning and Liev Schreiber would be like. Especially after enjoying the trailer several times over.
However, outside of the polished surroundings, sunny days, understated luxury fashion and some interrogation scenes, The Perfect Couple proved to be largely slow and boring.
I’d hoped for a somewhat sophisticated story execution in a series about a wedding gathering gone wrong – thanks to a murder at a rich family’s Nantucket Harbour estate. Unfortunately, the result felt more comparable to a dull soap opera than a well-written and engaging series starring Kidman and Schreiber.
The Perfect Couple (2024), Nicole Kidman, Netflix
Worst of all, I certainly didn’t expect to have to watch The Perfect Couple the way I ‘watch’ some reality TV shows, but I was left with no choice.
Just like much of reality TV, which has a habit of barely moving the story forward in each episode, Lami’s show had this issue. To the point where, after sitting through the first two episodes of The Perfect Couple, I could then only watch the last ten minutes of episodes three, four, and five – before skipping forward to watch the final sixth episode. Believe me when I say that I missed next to nothing by skipping almost half the episodes.
When I watch reality shows, once the key characters are established in the first couple of episodes, I’ll only watch the first few minutes of the start of the following episodes, where they recap what happened previously. Brilliant time saver, if I say so myself.
Back to The Perfect Couple, I always had the option to stop watching altogether, but, the acting wasn’t terrible. Plus, I wanted to see the mystery solved. I only wish it had felt less tedious overall.
Lastly, as always, if you’re curious enough, give The Perfect Couple a chance. You may have a better time than I did.
A wedding gathering gone wrong in Nantucket Harbour is what’s happening in The Perfect Couple. A new Netflix crime/drama/mystery mini-series starring Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Eve Hewson and Jack Reynor.
How lovely. I just happened to be in the mood for a good mystery about the shenanigans of the super-rich. I’m also always open to vicariously ‘living’ that sunny climate/beach lifestyle through film, while I work hard elsewhere.
Bring on the interrogations, and all that expensive style of home, surroundings and fashion, of course.
Meghann Fahy, Billy Howle, Michael Beach, Nick Searcy, Dendrie Taylor, Ishaan Khattar, Michael McGrady, Donna Lynne Champlin and Adina Porter also star.
Human Capital (2020), Liev Schreiber, Vertical Entertainment US
Liev Schreiber, Marisa Tomei, Peter Sarsgaard and Maya Hawke are the stars of new Marc Meyers-directed drama Human Capital.
A story about two families that collide when their children begin a relationship that leads to a tragedy.
The cast is very promising and the story of a very unfortunate event that affects two families and more brings to mind 2019’s Waves. Fingers crossed that Human Capital is also very memorable. I’m intrigued to see how much more both films have in common.
Also, I just worked out that Maya Hawke is Ethan Hawke’s daughter. As a long-time fan of the latter, I’m looking forward to the young Hawke’s performance even more now.
Alex Wolff, Paul Sparks, Aasif Mandvi, Betty Gabriel, Julia Greer, Fredric Lehne, Christiane Seidel, James Waterston, Daryl Edwards, Dominic Colón and Eva Kaminsky also star.
Directed by Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), starring Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schreiber, Isle of Dogs is set in Japan, and tells the story of a 12-year-old boy’s odyssey in search of his dog.
I know it’s a Wes Anderson movie, which means it’s going to be noteworthy. Nevertheless, I’m not yet especially excited. Perhaps it’s something to do with the overall seemingly sleepy tone.
What are your thoughts?
Tilda Swinton, Greta Gerwig, Jeff Goldblum, Frances McDormand, Harvey Keitel, Ken Watanabe and Bill Murray also star.
The Movie My Life 