Liev Schreiber

In Caught Stealing (2025), Liev Schreiber's Lipa and Vincent D'Onofrio's Shmully give kosher dietary law the attention they give to breaking fingers. We laughed freely at the brothers, whose scrupulous concern for the rules makes their brutality funnier and nastier. Schreiber has the size and deep voice for easy intimidation, but the comedy gives him something more exact to play. He can be funny without making the threat disappear.

Scream (1996) brought him to a wider audience as Cotton Weary, before a run of studio supporting roles. That brought a persistent risk of being hired for menace and little else. The vocal precision of his Shakespeare and Mamet work is worth remembering when another part asks him chiefly to look threatening. The television lead in Ray Donovan (2013–2020) gave him time to develop a damaged character. In Spotlight (2015), as Marty Baron, he helped keep a large cast grounded.

He also plays J.J. Kellogg for Wes Anderson in Asteroid City (2023). Anderson builds his desert town with exacting care and gives the cast plenty of humour, though we have to wait to feel close to its people. We like the film, with that reservation. Choose it for the company rather than expecting a film built around Schreiber.

For his comedy, we would start with Caught Stealing, while keeping our recommendation of the film modest. Lipa and Shmully are its best invention, but Aronofsky films an early beating without cutting away, and the pain makes it harder to settle back into the caper. The brothers are funny enough to make that loss of ease matter. We would welcome more comic parts that let Schreiber remain serious, rather than simply asking him to look dangerous.