REVIEW: ‘Crooks’ Fails To Deliver A Rewarding Conclusion

Charly (Fredrick Lau) enjoys his quiet life as a locksmith with his wife and son in Berlin. This life is interrupted by an old acquaintance who forces him to take part in the heist of a rare gold rubble. When the heist goes bad and a local crime boss’s brother is shot, the situation quickly spirals on Charly. As powerful forces begin to collide in search of the coin, Charly struggles to get himself and his family out of harm’s way. But with an unlikely ally, he might find a way in the Netflix Original crime series Crooks (2024), directed by Cüneyt Kaya and Marvin Kren and written by Benjamin Hessler, Georg Lippert, and Marvin Kren.

The nature of Charly’s journey to extradite himself from the criminal world he left behind begins the best way it could. It goes out of its way to make Charly likable. Early on we see him on a trip to the zoo with his family. When his son Jonas (Jonathan Tittel) is disappointed to learn the Big Cats Exhibit is closed, Charly plies some of his former skills as a thief to let them slip in for a quick peek. While not the best example he can set, this sequence establishes a fantastic level of affection and care between the family members. Believing in the strength of their bonds is important as the eight episodes of Crooks (2024) unfold.

The happiness doesn’t last. When his family is threatened, Charly takes a job to steal what he believes is a large sum of cash from a local safe house. While Charly performs flawlessly, the situation explodes when an internal dispute within the gang whose safe house they are robbing crashes into their job. Shots are fired and a man is killed. Because Charly’s good nature causes him to try to save the man, his face is noted as the killer’s.

Rather than stealing money, however, Crooks (2024) reveals the heist was for a rare coin. One that a lot of people want, but Charly now has. The scramble for the coin brings Charly into contact with Joseph. He’s a driver for a crime family in Venice who is sent to collect the coin from Charly’s one-time crew. As the pair find themselves stuck together and in everyone’s crosshairs, they build a bond that allows them to trust each other as they try to escape from the ever-worsening scenario.

Joseph’s character provides a bit of a struggle. Crooks (2024) wants viewers to come to cheer for him like they do Charly, but he makes it far more difficult. As an active mobster, he never feels as innocent as Charly. He also makes some extremely questionable choices that have terrible results. These factors keep Joseph from hitting the same chords Charly does.

The biggest praise I can give the meat of Crooks’s (2024) narrative is how cleaning it keeps everything running despite several different criminal organizations getting involved; who’s who and why they are in the story never gets confusing. The narrative manages to become complex while never crossing into convoluted.

While the fluidness of the story’s progression is impressive, it can’t make up for any of its various plot endings. Every subplot, and even the main plot, comes to unsatisfying conclusions at best. Some end so abruptly and with so little impact it makes the viewer wonder why they included it in the first place. All the thuds from these failing conclusions drown out what good there is in the series’ final couple of episodes.

While the narrative side of Crooks (2024) underwhelms, the characters that populate the story are far more successful. While the authentic kindness and charm of Charly’s character are always center stage, supporting characters also work hard to pull the viewer in. Samira, Charly’s wife, has a fantastic character arc throughout. As she and Jonas are pulled deeper into danger, we get to watch as she moves from overwhelmed and terrified to determined and mad. Her struggles come through brilliantly as she is forced to watch her life disintegrate.

The various mob bosses and henchmen offer an eclectic mix of threats the protagonists have to navigate. Some are cool and calculating, others half-mad. The variety in the villains keeps the dangers feeling fresh.

While the show strives to keep an air of danger in its narrative, it often stumbles in the visual implementation. Fight scenes are basic affairs here. While I can appreciate a fight that focuses on grit, these fail to engage. The basic punches and throws, combined with a stand-off approach to the camera work, keep the action from landing.

While Netflix’s Crooks (2024) delivers some solid characters, its lackluster action and weak endings drown out what the cast brings to the journey. It’s not without its charm, but there are far better ways to fill your time.

Crooks (2024) is streaming now on Netflix.