The following contains spoilers for Caught StealingCaught Stealing makes some very specific changes in adapting the novel of the same name for the big screen. The story focuses on a former aspiring baseball player who finds himself entangled in the criminal underworld of New York City. For the most part, the overall narratives are largely the same in both versions of Caught Stealing.

Both versions center around Hank and his efforts to survive his encounter with various criminals, killers, and corrupt cops. Along the way, the film also tweaks certain villains, changes a few backstories, and cuts a few elements. Here are Caught Stealing‘s biggest changes from the book to the movie.

The Film Replaces Minor Villains Like Red

Caught Stealing is in many ways a refinement of the original story, trimming certain characters and elements to make for a тιԍнтer crime caper. This includes many of the villains, who are tweaked and trimmed for the cinematic adaptation. The original Caught Stealing had several minions working for Det. Roman who are cut from the film.

This includes the Samoan longshoreman named Bolo, a bloodthirsty killer called Red, and the tracksuit-wearing henchmen Bert and Ernie. The latter three at least have parallels to movie characters. Bert and Ernie have been effectively replaced by Aleksei and Pavel, who serve as the primary muscle for the villains.

Colorado seems to be a riff on Red, a frightening book villain who will casually kill anyone who gets in their way. However, Colorado is dispatched more unceremoniously than Red, who gets more personality before his death. Red is also described as Asian and with red hair, as opposed to Colorado being played by the Puerto Rican Bad Bunny.

Ed And Paris Are Replaced With Lipa & Schmully

Two of Caught Stealing‘s most unnerving characters in the book were Ed and Paris. A pair of ruthless African-American brothers and career criminals, Ed and Paris are among the most dangerous criminals who appear in the original book by Charlie Huston. In the cinematic adaptation, the pair is replaced by Lipa and Shmully, a pair of Orthodox Jews.

They fill the same role in the narrative: a lethal threat responsible for the death of Yvonne. However, Lipa and Shmully are portrayed as more genial characters than Ed and Paris. While Ed and Paris were given a harrowing backstory of being survivors of a broken juvenile detention system, Lipa and Shmully have a more casually comical home life.

Lipa and Shmully are close, but they lack the incestuous subtext that Ed and Paris had. This helps keep them more straightforward and even silly, fitting neatly into the tone of the film. Ed and Paris might have been harder to play for unexpected laughs, making this an obvious change for the film to make.

Roman Gets More Depth (And Is A Man) In The Book

In both versions of Caught Stealing, Roman is a corrupt NYPD detective who serves as one of the more clever enemies that Hank must overcome. However, the cinematic version of the character doesn’t get quite as much depth as her literary counterpart, who benefits from the extended space of the novel’s story.

Played by Regina King in the movie, Roman only hints at her motivations to ensure she gets a good payday, escaping the city she’s been trapped within for her whole life. This is somewhat similar to the male version of Roman, who appears in the book. However, the novel also spends time diving into Roman’s backstory.

Book Roman joined the police as a genuinely optimistic rookie, with an initial sincerity that the film version never seemed to share. The book also delves into the gambling debts that got Roman roped up with the criminals in the first place, further fleshing out a character who is more of a straightforward antagonist in the film.

Hank Acutally Kills Roman In The Book

One of the key moments of Caught Stealing‘s third act is Hank’s efforts to get Roman killed after she threatens his mother. Hank even chases after her himself, wounding her and getting the opportunity to slay her. However, he proves not to be a killer, sparing her life — leaving that to the Drucker Brothers.

This is a change from the novel, where Hank is the one to put down Roman. This speaks to the different versions of Hank between the book and the film. In the cinematic version of Caught Stealing, Hank is a far softer character who doesn’t seem as quickly lethal as his book counterpart.

This extends to one of Hank’s other big “kills” in the film, Russ. Hank delivers accidentally fatal blows to his friend/neighbor, but still tries to save him in both versions. However, those beatings are far more brutal in the book compared to the film’s two hits to the head, one of which was even accidental.

Hank’s Book Backstory Is More Complex & Tragic

Overall, the Hank of the books is a far darker character than the one who appears in the film. On top of being more willing to use lethal force, the Hank of the books is also revealed to have a criminal past of his own that his movie version doesn’t seem to share.

In both versions, Hank crashed his car as a young man, killing his friend Dale when he drove into a telephone pole. In the book, it was Hank’s friend Rich who died when he hit a tree. This also came after some years in college for Hank, something that doesn’t seem to match the implied youth of Hank in flashbacks.

The film also seems to drop the reveal that Hank used to rob houses with his friends after his injuries, a hint at his eventual apтιтude within the criminal landscape he finds himself stuck in throughout Caught Stealing. These darker edges of the character become more prevalent in the novel’s sequels, while the more stand-alone film drops them.

Hank Has More Foot Chases In The Book

Hank is forced onto the run several times in Caught Stealing, which matches the thriller tone of the film. Many of those chases are directly from the book, such as his multiple efforts to escape Roman. However, some chases have been tweaked, in part by moving the action firmly to 1998 to avoid a post 9/11 New York City.

One of the most notable tweaks is the absence of the movie theater chase. In the book, Hank tries to escape Roman’s men by hiding in a movie theater. Unfortunately, Red finds him there, dragging him back to the plot. That entire setting is dropped. Colorado doesn’t even actually chase after Hank himself, preferring instead to intimidate.

This addresses the plot hole created by Red being able to track Hank to such a specific place. The film also gives Lipa and Shmully a big chase scene with Hank instead, which seems to take the place of some of the other chases featured in the book.

Russ’ Death Haunts Hank More In The Book

In both versions of Caught Stealing, Hank’s horror and guilt over the death of Yvonne serves as a major motivation for the character. However, the book also highlights the guilt that Hank feels for Russ’ death, which is downplayed somewhat in the movie.

In both versions, Hank is plagued by nightmares of his prior car crash, which begins to incorporate elements of Yvonne’s demise as well. In the book, his nightmares also started to include Russ following the character’s demise, highlighting how much that death also impacted him.

By contrast, Russ’ death is treated somberly but comes with less pathos for Hank specifically in the movie. Instead, his motivations remain heavily focused on Yvonne and his mother. It’s one of the ways that Caught Stealing shifts things around and tweaks certain story elements to create a more streamlined version of the same story.