Brian Tyree Henry Is a Spiraling ‘Dope Thief’ in Apple’s Nail-Biting Crime Drama: TV Review
variety.comAlison Herman TV Critic The crime drama “Dope Thief” opens with a headfake. Two DEA agents, Ray (Brian Tyree Henry) and Manny (Wagner Moura), plan and execute a bust on a Philadelphia row house.
The sequence, directed by executive producer Ridley Scott, is a proper nail-biter; Ray and Manny nearly shoot a suspect they hear walking around upstairs, realizing just in time that he’s a child.
Only after they’ve returned to their van do we realize the two friends aren’t federal agents at all, but petty thieves pretending to be so they can stick up minor dealers for cash.
Adapted from Dennis Tafoya’s novel of the same name, “Dope Thief” is most engaging in such sequences, which maintain the tension even after Scott passes the baton to other directors. (Marcela Said of “Narcos: Mexico” and Jonathan van Tulleken of “Shōgun” each helm multiple hours apiece.) After Ray and Manny choose the wrong target and inadvertently bite off more than they can chew, these scenes are where the eight-episode limited series can convert its characters’ — and viewers’ — nerve-shredding anxiety into cathartic action.
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