Jamie Lee Curtis, Margo Martindale, and more take part in a comedic retelling of the biggest heist in Canadian history.
Plot: A comedy-drama series about Ruth Landry, a maple syrup farmer who, in defiance of a heartless system, assembles a team to undertake the Canadian heist of the century. The target: the country’s multi-million dollar maple syrup surplus.
Review: It goes without saying that the last decade has been a boon for true-crime fans. From adaptations of podcasts to limited series of every tone imaginable, fictionalized retellings of shocking events that took place have served as wonderful opportunities for actors to stretch themselves in every way imaginable. Over that same stretch of time, Noah Hawley’s anthology series Fargo has proven that even the most bizarre and original stories can compete with true tales when the writing is strong enough. Taking the similar sensibilities of Fargo, Prime Video’s new series The Sticky blends dark humor with a true story to deliver an entertainingly original show that showcases a long-deserved leading role for the great Margo Martindale. Alongside supporting performers, Chris Diamantopolous and Guillaume Cyr, The Sticky is a fun but too-short foray into the craziest crime you likely have never heard of.
The Sticky is a dramatized retelling of The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, which took place between 2011 and 2012. While that event serves as a jumping-off point for the series, both share some key elements, namely how the syrup was covertly stolen from a warehouse in Quebec. What differs is the various people involved in the crime, which centers on fully fictional characters, including farmers, members of the Mafia, and law enforcement in the United States and Canada. Spread over six half-hour chapters, The Sticky could easily have been the narrative for a season of Fargo as it shares that anthology’s small-town setting, quirky characters, and a portrait of people put in a corner. There is violence and death and a decidedly different perspective of Canadians than the overly nice stereotype many Americans have come to expect from our neighbors north of the border. That also means that most non-Canucks likely have no knowledge of the heist at the center of this story, which gives the writers more freedom than a typical true-crime series.
After the opening title card proclaiming that this is not the true story, The Sticky introduces us to the trio of main characters, led by Margo Martindale’s Ruth Landy. Martindale has become a stalwart in great supporting roles in series like Justified and The Americans, for which she won Emmys. She has been a staple in shows and films in supporting roles, but here, Martindale takes center stage as a formidable character struggling to maintain her maple trees while her husband is in a coma. A bureaucrat named Leonard Gauthier (Guy Nadon) tries to buy her land cheaply while he runs a local maple syrup union like a dictator. Ruth’s anger and desire for revenge enlists security guard Remy (Guillaume Cyr), who has been secretly stealing syrup from the warehouse where he works. Remy partners with Boston gangster Mike Byrne (Chris Diamantopoulos), bringing in Ruth to take millions worth of maple syrup. All three characters are likable and sympathetic, with Remy wanting to be more than a guard and Mike aiming to prove himself to his criminal superiors, which leads them to embark on their ambitious heist.
As the three partners in crime develop their plot, they are met by several other characters who pose obstacles on their journey to executing their master plan. Detective Valerie Nadeau (Suzanne Clement) and Officer Teddy Green (Gita Miller) begin to unravel the dastardly plot and try to take the thieves down before they can get away with their loot, but that requires Ruth, Remy, and Mike to stay two steps ahead. This forces them to cross paths with an even more dangerous person who is both adversary and ally along the way. Played by Jamie Lee Curtis in one of her string of stellar supporting turns, this character is one of the best things to come out of this series. I won’t divulge who Curtis plays or how she factors into the overall plot of The Sticky, but rest assured that her presence is hilarious and scary in equal measure. With each scene, The Sticky‘s plot becomes more complex as the growing ensemble all help build towards the execution of the heist itself.
And that may be the biggest problem with The Sticky. With only six episodes that clock in at just about thirty minutes each, I expected this to play out like a limited series. The lack of closure in the final episode leads me to believe The Sticky will work as the first season of an ongoing series, something I cannot quite figure out after seeing the full run of episodes for the first season. While it ends with an abrupt cliffhanger, there does not seem to be enough story to sustain more than another episode or two. Series showrunners Brian Donovan (American Housewife) and Jeff Herro (The Neighbors) both have experience working in sitcoms and worked with a couple of other writers on The Sticky, all of whom have experience with the comedy format and episode length. Still, I cannot tell if they have an overall plan for where this story will go. It could be that a second season of six episodes will wrap the tale set up here, but I cannot see how this plot could carry on for an ongoing story. Directors Michael Dowse and Joyce Wong do bring some solid work to this short season, but I kept checking the press materials sent with the series to see if maybe more episodes are coming that I was not given for this review.
Even with the somewhat blunt finale that does not wrap the story in any satisfying manner, there is much to like in The Sticky. Seeing Margo Martindale in a lead role that she nails is more than worth the confusion I felt when I finished the sixth and final chapter of the season. The predominantly Canadian cast, including Mickael Gouin, Joseph Bellerose, Michael Perron, and more, will be recognizable to audiences in the North. In contrast, Americans and others around the globe will get to see a full cast of great performers they may have been unaware of. Performed in both French and English and with a biting and profane script full of great dialogue, The Sticky is a violent and dark comedy that earns a spot as a binge-watch this holiday season. This is a solid show produced by Jamie Lee Curtis and Jason Blum. I would have liked a more conclusive finale, even if this is not intended to be a limited series, but the entertaining tale about the weirdest heist imaginable more than makes up for it.
The Sticky premieres on December 6th on Prime Video.
