Daniel Foray (Gerard Depardieu) is the leader of a wacky group of burglars (Johnny Hallyday, Stephane Freiss, Renaud, Albert Dray) in Paris. He has always dreamed of pulling off the perfect heist. His dream may come true when he is told by his boss, Bastaldi (Richard Bohringer) that he and his gang will be sent to Chicago to rob a wealthy home of its jewels. A young French thief who lived in Chicago (Said Taghmaoui) joins Foray’s team to direct the Frenchmen around the city ensuring that the job goes smoothly.

However, things are anything but smooth when in the windy city. Upon arriving in Chicago, the Frenchmen find themselves on the wrong side of town and run into a little trouble with Lamar, head of the local African American gang. To make matters worse, they steal a car, which happens to belong to Rafael, head of the Chicano gang. They finally get to the house, which they believe they are supposed to rob. They break-in, tie up the owner, and proceed to rob his house. It is only when they are in the middle of the job that they realize that they have raided the wrong house and have just robbed Zammeti, (Harvey Keitel), the boss of the Chicago Mafia. Zammeti now desperately wants revenge on the terribly mistaken French crew.

Daniel and his men flee Zammeti’s home with a bag of incriminating documents and cassettes worth more than jewels and cash. To add to their predicament, Zammeti’s home was under FBI surveillance. One agent in particular becomes personally interested in the documents and tapes stolen from Zammeti’s house.

What follows is a hysterical adventure as our French friends desperately try to get out of the city and go home. Before long, they are being chased all over town by the Mafia, the gangs, the FBI and the Chicago Police Department. To survive they will need to rely on intelligence. And maybe, just maybe, together they can turn this mix-up into the one perfect job they have always dreamed of.

A cross between “Get Shorty” and “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”, Crime Spree is a classic fish-out-of-water story, where we can’t help but wish the best for this group of lovable French thieves!