Netflix's This Is a Robbery makes a compelling art heist feel stale

Salon.com

The four-part This Is a Robbery: The World's Biggest Art Heist tells the story of the 1990 Boston art gallery heist that resulted in $500 million in stolen works. "It's still a gripping premise, though, right?" says Ashlie D. Stevens. "You have eccentric art world personalities and dry FBI investigators colliding. There's major money on the line, bungled crime scenes and potential murders. This Is a Robbery occasionally delivers on the promise of its engrossing introduction, but is largely held back by the creators' obvious desire to methodically introduce and dismiss various theories, as well as an unfortunate lack of visual interest (especially for a series centered on art)...Between some punchy archival tape and re-enactments, the series relies on a rotating selection of B-roll and drone shots of Boston to fill the space between present-day interviews. You could close your eyes during much of the series and the experience wouldn't be wildly different."

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• This Is a Robbery is weirdly dull: "Given this undeniable appeal, the 1990 theft at the center of Netflix’s new four-part series This Is a Robbery — in which 13 works of art were lifted from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — ought to have made for a banger of a documentary series," says Alissa Wilkinson. "One of the biggest art heists in history, it’s even better than goofy Hollywood heists, because it’s real. Real and unsolved! Nobody knows where the art is! It happened when I was in kindergarten and they still don’t know! So it gives me no pleasure to say that I was checking my watch a little way into the second episode, and by the fourth I was actively rolling my eyes when the same gliding drone shots and archival images appeared on the screen yet again. This Is a Robbery (directed by Colin Barnicle) is not entirely without merits. But it swerves into ponderous territory far too often to capture the incredible stakes and weight of the crime it examines."
• This Is a Robbery is a refreshing change of pace for the true-crime genre: "The true-crime docuseries genre is absolutely flourishing, due to its popularity and a battle for content being waged by the increasing number of streaming services right now," says Adam Chitwood. "Indeed, one could argue that the advent of streaming was a boon for the entire documentary industry, as these kinds of films were rarely the kinds of box office hits that made them widely available to see during their theatrical runs. But as tends to happen, the market has become a bit over-saturated with true crime docuseries – documentaries stretched out over four, five, six, or even seven hour-long installments that test your stamina when it comes to gruesome real-life tales. And as the battle to rise above the noise grows stronger, so does the 'extreme' nature of some of these shows. Which is why Netflix’s latest true crime docuseries is a breath of fresh air. This Is a Robbery is about an art heist. It’s shocking and unsettling to be sure, but after a flood of increasingly gruesome documentaries that seem to linger on crime scene photos to the point of exploitation (lookin’ at you, Night Stalker), the non-violent nature of this four-hour series is a relief. Moreover, it’s a compelling, twist-filled story that weaves in and out of various communities as it examines the prevailing theories surrounding the biggest art heist in history – and one that remains unsolved to this day."
• This Is a Robbery isn't bogged down in a moral debate because it's having too much fun with its embarrassment of riches
• This Is a Robbery suffers from true-crime tunnel vision
• This Is a Robbery plays out like a non-fiction version of The Thomas Crown Affair, complete with a stirring soundtrack and a nifty twist or two every once in a while