"The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist" sounds like the punchline of a lazy joke (or the title of a bad sketch) until you learn that such a thing actually happened between 2011 and 2012 in Quebec, where more than 3,000 tons of syrup was stolen and replaced with water for a profit of nearly $20 million (Canadian dollars) before the perpetrators were caught. This makes The Sticky, a new half-hour caper on Prime Video, technically a true-crime show, but you'd need to be lowered to the bottom of a vat of molasses to find much darkness in the execution here.
Margo Martindale leads a game cast through this breezy, straightforward romp as Ruth Landry, a syrup farmer tired of getting nickel-and-dimed by Big Syrup who takes matters into her own hands. But Ruth, like plenty in this show, is fictional. And The Sticky makes sure to remind us that this is absolutely not an accurate retelling of the heist or, more accurately, the planning of it, which takes up the bulk of the series. Which is all well and good because watching the always ace Martindale take charge of a group of good-hearted, aspiring burglars in what's essentially a high-stakes hangout sitcom is why this series sings. People aren't going to be coming to this thing for a Fast Five-style vault smash and grab or, for that matter, the historical accuracy.
Rounding out Ruth's ragtag gang are Remy (Guillaume Cyr), a security guard who's already been dipping his paws in the cash register and knows the ins and outs of the (flimsy) warehouse operation, and Mike (a wonderfully silly Chris Diamantopoulos), a disgraced mid-level gangster from Boston. (Some of the accent choices in this show are wild and welcome.) It's a joy watching Martindale, Cyr, and Diamantopoulos navigate contrived mini-crimes that make the shit pulled in the first few seasons of Breaking Bad look like fine-tuned schemes.
All three performers ably vacillate between believably capable and bumbling on a level that would force Paddington to say, "get it together." Ruth is, obviously, the most well-drawn and considered of the three, with a couple of standout solo scenes that add to Martindale’s many career highlights. Directors Michael Dowse and Joyce Wong infuse energy into the show, but they also thankfully let moments breathe. And Martindale’s fascinating face becomes one of the camera's favorite motifs, every microexpression rendered amusing and almost artful.
That said, the show is at its most propulsive and fun when this delightfully dysfunctional crew is together. But the addition of Jamie Lee Curtis as Bo, a cartoonish villain from Mike’s checkered past, feels like a hat on a hat and another miscalculated performance by the actor, who's struggled with tone in her roles over the past five years or so. (She was, to be fair, quite good in the “Ice Chips” episode of The Bear earlier this year.)
Prime Video has the annoying penchant to woefully under-market its original shows that aren't The Boys or its spin-offs. The masterful Rachel Weisz-led reimagining of Dead Ringers is one of its most exasperating casualties. All that's to say, don't count on The Sticky doing numbers or getting plenty of seasons. Which is a bit of a shame, as it’s pretty refreshing watching a cast this likable play within a premise this light. The story behind the "great" heist probably doesn't have enough meat on it to completely suck viewers in, but as far as creating an enjoyable diversion goes, The Sticky is up to the job.
The Sticky premieres December 6 on Prime Video
