‘The Sticky’ evaluation: The Nice Canadian Maple Syrup Heist will get a darkly humorous adaptation

From 2011 to 2012, thieves stole $18 million value of maple syrup from the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. Among the many most dear heists in Canadian historical past (and arguably essentially the most Canadian heist ever), the theft earned the title of the Nice Canadian Maple Syrup Heist.

Now, the Nice Canadian Maple Syrup Heist will get its personal TV adaptation with Prime Video’s The Sticky. Created by American Housewife crew Brian Donovan and Ed Herro, The Sticky stars Margo Martindale, Chris Diamantopoulos, and Guillaume Cyr as an unlikely trio of maple syrup hustlers. The three have unbelievable chemistry — however in the long run, is it sufficient to counteract The Sticky‘s lengthy, winding highway to the infamous heist that spawned it?

What’s The Sticky about?

The Sticky could draw inspiration from true occasions, but as a title card reminds us at the start of every episode, what we’re seeing is “absolutely not” the true story. Sure, folks will work to steal maple syrup from a governing syrup physique in Quebec, however that is mainly the place the similarities start and finish. Notably, each member of The Sticky‘s aspiring heist crew is fictional.

Each member of the heist crew can also be down on their luck, and rising extra determined day-to-day. There’s syrup farmer Ruth Landry (Martindale), whose husband Martin lies in a years-long coma, and whose farming land is on the verge of being seized by the corrupt affiliation that governs the native maple syrup provide. Safety guard Remy Bouchard (Cyr) is the group’s sole safety guard. Overworked, underpaid, and unappreciated by boss Leonard Gauthier (Man Nadon), Remy takes revenge the place he can — by stealing one barrel of syrup a month from the stockpile. Rounding out the crew is Bostonian mobster Mike Byrne (Chris Diamantopoulos), who’s seeking to pull off a job unaffiliated with the U.S. crime household that hounds him.

Pushed collectively by circumstance, these three resolve to take down those that have wronged them by executing the sweetest heist recognized to mankind. However in fact, as we have come to anticipate from any heist story, issues not often go in keeping with plan, and Ruth, Remy, and Mike are in for a hell of quite a lot of sticky conditions.

Margo Martindale, Guillaume Cyr, and Chris Diamantopoulos are a pleasant heist crew.

Margo Martindale, Chris Diamantopoulos, and Guillaume Cyr in “The Sticky.”
Credit score: Jan Thijs

It’s possible you’ll be drawn in by the promise of maple syrup mayhem, however the true coronary heart of The Sticky is simply watching Martindale, Cyr, and Diamantopoulos develop into essentially the most dysfunctional heist crew in all of Canada. The three give pleasant performances individually, however put them collectively, and also you get dynamite.

Martindale’s Ruth is ferocious as might be, unafraid to storm the affiliation’s workplaces with a downed tree in tow or curse out Leonard in entrance of his employees. Cyr’s Remy turns into an ideal foil for her, not simply due to his hyperlinks to the group but in addition due to his mild-mannered demeanor, which might generally result in others profiting from him. Nevertheless, that mildness flies out the door in most of his interactions with the hot-tempered Mike, who tries to claim himself because the dominant cool man accountable for the operation. However regardless of all that posturing, Mike’s usually simply as inept as his compatriots. Do not simply take my phrase for it: Feast your eyes on Diamantopoulos’ many icy pratfalls, which by some means get funnier over time, regardless of how usually Mike bites it within the Quebec snow.

The lead-up to The Sticky‘s heist provides our trio loads of time to bond, from planning periods to automobile journeys to an confederate’s storage unit. It additionally provides them loads of alternatives to cross one another, constructing stress — and a few very enjoyable sap-related arguments — alongside the way in which. But amongst all The Sticky‘s many twists and turns, it could possibly generally really feel just like the heist itself has gotten misplaced within the syrup… er, sauce.

The Sticky‘s heist feels extra like an afterthought.

Jamie Lee Curtis in “The Sticky.”
Credit score: Jan Thijs

Regardless of The Sticky‘s lightning-fast first season (six episodes, every lower than half-hour), the sequence can generally really feel prefer it’s wading by syrup in its efforts to get to the heist correct. Ruth and Remy drop out of the heist at separate factors, solely to get pulled again in mere moments later. Elsewhere, new wrinkles out of our trio’s management maintain pushing the deliberate heist date again. Some, just like the arrival of recent safety guard Gary (Meegwun Fairbrother), spawn riotous aspect quests. Others, just like the intrusion of Mike’s Bostonian colleagues — together with mobster Bo (Jamie Lee Curtis) — really feel like The Sticky stalling for time, or clawing for a fantastic antagonist for a possible second season.

This is the factor, although: I am way more within the small-town dynamics The Sticky initially units up than no matter hell Boston has to rain down on Mike. The sequence briefly explores the solidarity between Ruth and the opposite syrup farmers and townspeople, together with a scene the place a diner refuses to present Leonard any syrup with breakfast. However in any other case, it barely fleshes out the remainder of them.

By the point The Sticky lastly will get to its heist, the season has nearly run out of steam, and it exhibits. Prior iterations of the heist plan play out in snappy, darkly humorous sequences of what the crime would possibly seem like. But that power dissipates for the true deal, which appears nearly grim compared to all the things that is come earlier than it.

However whereas the ultimate vacation spot of The Sticky Season 1 could also be underwhelming, a minimum of the characters who introduced us there are something however. Martindale, Cyr, and Diamantopoulos have created a trio of lovable, flawed criminals who’re fully-fledged proper off the bat, and watching their dynamic evolve over the course of the season is a candy deal with all by itself.

All episodes of The Sticky premiere Dec. 6 on Prime Video.