Crime Spree 2003

Daniel Foray is the brains of a small, unconventional Parisian burglary crew. When the group is hired by fence Laurent to fly to Chicago and steal an expensive necklace from a suburban residence, what seems like a straightforward caper quickly spirals into a fight for survival. The homeowner turns out to be a feared mafia boss, Frank Zammeti, who is also under heavy police scrutiny, turning the job into a deadly trap.

The thieves are misled by a local contact, Sophie, who hints they may have the wrong address. But as the crew soon learns, the target was correct all along, and Sophie’s disappearance with the loot reveals a deeper conspiracy. The operation is compromised by corrupt FBI Agent Pogue, who is sleuthing about the heist and the people behind it.

Soon after, Pogue bludgeons Sophie to death, frames burglar Sam, and leaks the other burglars’ names to the media as accomplices. He demands that they hand over an audio tape stolen from Zammeti’s safe, promising to bend the law in exchange. The motive behind the entire plot grows murkier: it ties Zammeti to a broader mob war and strengthens the case against him, while Laurent’s own interests seem connected to a stolen Van Gogh painting and the push for his brother’s prison release.

Facing pursuit and betrayal, the six thieves become fugitives and strike an uneasy deal with a local black street gang to carry out a crucial handover of the tape in Grant Park. A secret camera captures Pogue confessing to Sophie’s murder, and the gang swaps the tape after staging a mugging. The switching trick backfires when Zammeti and his underboss discover that the recording in their possession is not a damning confession but the innocuous song “Danke Schoen” by Wayne Newton, leaving Pogue exposed and quickly killed.

To sever the ties that bind them, Raymond Raymond—a sly move that involves gifting Zammeti’s younger brother a stolen muscle car—sparks a deadly shootout between rival factions. Meanwhile, Daniel exposes the incriminating tape of Angelo Giancarlo, revealing the betrayal and prompting a demand for cash and a safe return to France.

With Zammeti dead and Laurent seemingly marked for a hit by Giancarlo’s men, the crew realizes they’ve been duped once again, this time by counterfeit money stashed in a suitcase. They set off as stowaways, only to watch Laurent’s Van Gogh painting be blown into the Chicago River, forcing them to dive into the water. The final fate of the group remains uncertain, their latest scheme dissolving into a murky fallout as they disappear into the river’s current.