The Sticky

“The Sticky” is a delightful, suspenseful adventure full of jokes, bizarre situations and a sharp cast.

“The Sticky” has learned from its predecessors’ mistakes, and like maple syrup itself has been reduced down into its most concentrated and tasty form: six half-hour episodes. .... Martindale is the draw here, and she more than delivers, but Cyr is the highlight.

The story whips by in half-hour episodes packed with action, so you could easily binge this in a couple of days. .... It’s testament to the rest of the cast that she [Jamie Lee Curtis] doesn’t need to raise the game, because The Sticky is tremendous fun even before she shows up.

The Sticky's cleverly plotted episodes — each an exercise in escalating chaos — fly by for reasons beyond their 30-minute running time, and though it plays at times like a miniseries designed to tell a complete story and call it a day, the season finale leaves the door wide open for more. That's more than welcome.

A quirky and spirited lark that maintains a requisite degree of suspense and silliness throughout its brief maiden season.

Martindale is in rare form, surrounded by a parade of supporting players portraying a lot of folks on a sliding annoying-hateful-vile scale. And the milieu, with fur trapping, mink farming (and killing) and a strip club that features a pretty good buffet, is an amusing place to visit, especially during a cold stretch during this winter of snow and ice and discontent.

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.

A generally entertaining small town comedy, if an unusually angry one, which sits firmly on the side of the individual against the organization.

The show comes together when they get the throat-clearing out of the way and get down to business. The mid-section of the season becomes a cat-and-mouse as two cops try to figure out what's going on, and our three "heroes" stay ahead of them. It's well-written and well-directed (by Michael Dowse of "Goon," one of the most famous Canadian comedies ever), even if its heavy dose of northern quirk does sometimes recall "Fargo" a bit aggressively.

The story is never overly complicated, the pacing is quick, and you can’t help but root for many of these characters. The Sticky also has less cynical energy compared to other shows of this genre, but never to the point where it's playing things too safe.

“The Sticky” isn’t as funny as its premise suggests. It’s entertaining enough at times but not quite laudatory.

Both too much and not enough, The Sticky at least deserves credit for moving fast and giving Margo Martindale a well-deserved stint at the top of the call sheet.

The characters are too unformed, the story too careless, the payoff (a word loosely applied here) too abrupt, although the end is obviously a setup for a second season. .... Ruth has some funny moments, at first anyway. If only there were more.

The characters lack the depth necessary to sustain this meandering – so even half-amusing moments tend to flail around in a netherworld between caricatured comedy and pitiless dramatic thriller.