Caught Stealing

In 1998, Henry “Hank” Thompson tends bar on the Lower East Side, where his girlfriend Yvonne works as a paramedic, and frequently calls his mother in Patterson, California to discuss their beloved San Francisco Giants. A star baseball prospect in high school, Hank is haunted by the car crash that killed his friend Dale and left him with a career-ending knee injury.

Hank’s neighbor Russ returns to London to see his ailing father, leaving Hank to care for his cat, Bud. Searching for Russ, Russian mobsters Aleksei and Pavel viciously beat Hank, who loses a kidney. After the Russians break into Russ’s apartment, narcotics detective Roman questions Hank and reveals Russ is a drug dealer connected to deadly Hasidic brothers Lipa and Shmully Drucker. Finding a key hidden in Bud’s litter box, Hank notifies Roman when the Druckers search Russ’s apartment.

Spending a drunken night at Paul’s Bar, Hank leaves his clothes outside his building. Interrogated by the Russians and their Puerto Rican associate Colorado, Hank cannot remember what happened to the key, but the mobsters are interrupted by his neighbor Duane. Hank leaves the injured Bud with Yvonne, and remembers taking the key to the bar. Chased by the Druckers, he informs Colorado but realizes Yvonne is in danger, and races back to her apartment only to find she has been shot in the head.

A guilt-stricken Hank confides in Roman, who dreams of retiring to Tulum. Colorado and the Russians arrive, in league with the corrupt Roman, but they claim not to be responsible for Yvonne’s murder. Hank is brought to Paul’s, where Colorado kills bar regular Amtrak but Roman shoots him in the head before he can kill Paul. Lying that the key is in the basement strongroom’s safe, Paul retrieves a shotgun but is shot dead. Hank locks himself in the strongroom, forcing the others to leave empty-handed.

Hank recovers the key from the homeless Jason, left in the clothes he abandoned. Russ returns home, but is hit in the head when Hank mistakes him for an intruder. Russ explains that after selling drugs for the Druckers in Colorado’s nightclubs, he was forced to involve Roman, who owes money to the Russians’ boss. The key unlocks a storage unit with just over $4 million he was meant to split between the various parties on the day he left for London. Fearing for his life, Russ prepares to take the money and frame Hank, who knocks him unconscious.

Meeting Roman and the Russians at Flushing Meadows, Hank offers them Russ and the key in exchange for Bud. Russ panics, killing Aleksei with Pavel’s gun before fleeing with Hank and Bud, and suggests that Roman killed Yvonne. They escape through a crowd at Shea Stadium onto the subway, where a severely concussed Russ succumbs to his injuries, and Hank boards a bus with Bud to Coney Island.

Hank is woken on the beach by a call from Roman, who has framed him for the various murders and threatens his mother, demanding he bring the key to the Russians’ supper club. Calling to warn his mother, Hank surrenders himself to the Druckers. They agree to kill Roman in exchange for Hank leading them to the money, first bringing him to their mother’s Shabbos dinner. Forced to drive for the first time since his crash, Hank is cuffed to the van while the heavily-armed brothers storm the club.

Spotting Roman, Hank burns his restraints with the car lighter and gives chase with a bat. He subdues Pavel and manages to disarm Roman, letting the Druckers shoot her dead. Hank reveals he hid the key in the bandage on Bud’s leg, and the sympathetic brothers decide to let him live with a share of the money. However, Hank recognizes a lighter taken from Yvonne and realizes the brothers murdered her, crashing the car and killing them both.

Sometime later, Hank poses as Russ to escape the country with Bud and half of the money. Calling his mother to let her know he is safe, he has mailed her the rest of the money, and arrives in Tulum to begin a new life.

Last Updated: August 28, 2025 at 12:53