The Thomas Crown Affair

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Having spent two hours yetserday evening watching this film on Satellite TV, the only positive feeling that I had was that at least I hadn't spent money renting the DVD, or even worse purchasing it. Although the film is beautifully shot, it lacks a certain element - namely believability. From the moment of the robbery, which is full of inconsistencies, to the point where the insurance investigator decides that Crown is the thief (for no other reason that I could see but it was the only way the scripters could manage to move what remained of the plot forward) right up to the ending the film is laughably inept. As an attempt to make a 'sophisticated' film it failed simply because it treated its audience like morons. Sophistication has to fail when the audience spends half the time wondering where on earth they managed to find a judge to sign a search warrant against one of the richest men in New York on no evidence at all, or why the police didn't arrest the insurance investigator after discovering her illegal activities. The obligatory sex scenes were equally laughable - making love on a marble staircase has to be the most uncomfortable experience ever (I do not speak from personal knowledge). Apart from some good camera work this film has nothing to recommend it and must rank as one of the worst films it has ever been my misfortune to see. This is a definite not-to-see.

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source: The Thomas Crown Affair

I usually hate remakes, but this is the exception that proves the rule. Pierce Brosnan is so much more classy that Steve McQueen. He is utterly convincing as a rich playboy and an entrepreneur. While Faye Dunaway did a marvelous job in the original and I have no criticism of her performance, I am enchanted with the performance of Rene Russo. Brosnan and Russo were a pair that were perfectly matched. The soundtrack was fantastic, even including "The Windmills of Your Mind" from the original. Adding Dunaway as a Psychiatrist was a masterful touch. This is much more of a caper film as you actually saw some beautiful work her. The "other woman" was beefed up and really added to the plot. The ending was much more satisfying, and, unlike the previous version which had to be rated "R" because the bad guy won, this actually earned the rating with some magnificent scenes.

THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, in my opinion, is an excellent action movie with a little romance thrown in that has excellent performances. If you ask me, Thomas (Pierce Brosnan) and Catherine (Rene Russo) made a cute couple. As far as I could see, they looked really good in the attire they wore to the ball. I just don't understand why he wanted to rip off a piece of artwork, though. Before I wrap this up, I'd like to say that everyone involved in this project did an excellent job. Now, in conclusion, I highly recommend excellent action movie with a little romance thrown in that has excellent performances to all you Pierce Brosnan or Rene Russo fans who haven't seen it. When you see it, prepare to be dazzled.

As the original "Thomas Crown Affair" stood in roughly the same relationship to real-life crime as the James Bond films do to real-life espionage, the current 007 Pierce Brosnan was perhaps a natural choice to star as the new Thomas Crown. He brings to the role a similar combination of cool sophistication with a hint of toughness as Steve McQueen, the King of Cool, brought to the original. (I have always thought that McQueen would have made a great James Bond if the producers had ever felt they wanted an American in the role). The new film follows roughly the same plot as the 1968 version, with one or two minor variations. The setting is transferred from Boston to New York, and the millionaire tycoon Crown is British rather than American. The most significant change is that the robbery which Crown organises is not of money from a bank but rather of a priceless Monet painting from an art gallery. As in the original, he is pursued by an attractive female insurance company investigator with whom he becomes romantically and sexually entangled. As in the original, the trappings of Crown's millionaire lifestyle are much on display- his expensive cars, his exclusive New York residence (even more luxurious than was McQueen's), his private glider, his yacht. (In this version Crown is a yachtsman rather than a polo player, although he is still a golfer). Even the theme song "The Windmills of Your Mind" comes in at the end and Faye Dunaway makes a cameo appearance as Crown's psycho-analyst. Despite the similarities in plot, I felt that something was lacking compared with the original film. That film is one that you watch less for its plot than for its atmosphere of style and sophistication, the epitome of sixties cool. The remake never really captures this. To take an example, it dispenses with the famous game of chess during which McQueen is seduced by Faye Dunaway; instead the investigator (here called Catherine rather than Vicki) seduces Crown after they have been dancing together. To make a game as intellectual as chess sexy was quite an achievement on the part of the actors and director; it is much less of a challenge to do the same for dancing, an activity which has been described as the vertical expression of horizontal desires. The chess scene is memorable precisely because it is so unexpectedly erotic; the dancing scene is much more forgettable. The director John McTiernan dispenses with Norman Jewison's use of the split screen; that was probably the right decision, as that technique used today would probably have given the film a very dated feel, but McTiernan does not come up with anything equally distinctive to replace it. Pierce Brosnan is good as Crown, but I was less taken with Rene Russo's Catherine, who I felt (surprisingly for an actress who is a former model) lacked the sophisticated elegance of Faye Dunaway's Vicki. I make no apologies for comparing this film to the original version; film-makers who remake earlier movies are deliberately inviting such comparisons. It would be wrong to say that I disliked the newer version. In some respects it is superior to its predecessor; it has, for example, a more coherent plot. There are some humorous touches such as the scene where Catherine thinks she has recovered the missing painting, only to find that it is a fake painted over "Monet's unknown masterpiece- Dogs at Cards". There is also a neat twist at the end when Crown (helped by a number of accomplices, all identically dressed with bowler hats and briefcases) succeeds in replacing the painting on the walls of the gallery under the noses of Catherine and the police. Seen as a romance/comedy/thriller, the remake is not a bad film. It is, however, a routine one. The original was not a great film, but it was never routine. It had its own quite distinctive style and personality, something the remake lacks. 6/10

If you have a chance, make sure you see this film. It's an excellent re-make, Rene Russo and Pierce Brosnan give Academy Award caliber performances. In an unusual tribute to the original, Faye Dunaway is cast as Brosnan's psychologist with whom he discusses his disillusionment with life and love. Even the normally annoying Denis Leary gives a good performance as the embittered detective who watches Russo's struggles between her heart and her job. Frankie Faison has an excellent supporting role(most may remember him as the landlord in Eddie Murphy's "Coming to America"). The film is dazzlingly shot, the yacht racing sequences are really beautiful. And above all, it's an intense love story that won't leave you disappointed. Very steamy scenes between the two make this a date movie, not a movie you watch with your kids!

For one, what is with the musical score, it sounds like circus music. Another thing is, what is Russo drinking a can of PEPSI ONE in the middle of an important scene. The ONE is facing the camera and she drinks the whole thing...it lasts for like 30 seconds. What a joke. I've seen some obvious advertising in movies before, but not like this. What is even more frightening, is that this director will direct TERMINATOR 3.

Firstly, it's not a cookie-cutter remake of the original staring Mr. McQueen and Ms. Dunaway - so no comparison required. You might say Brosnan was typecast by Bond, and the idea of a suave player getting one over on yet another woman might be the obvious outcome, but not this time! Instead we're treated to a sophisticated game of cops and robbers, played out in this stylish and seductive entertainment. Mr. Brosnan (Thomas) is at the top of his game and may be involved in something illegal. Ms. Russo (Catherine) is called in to investigate, claiming an office and sharing confidences with the local police department looking for clues. Catherine epitomises sophistication with hair, makeup and fashions styled to perfection. She's an understatement of success; a woman playing a man's game, bounty-hunting life and sex on her own terms and 'enjoying the chase'. Once Catherine is on the trail of Thomas Crown you'll join her in a hedonistic game of one-upmanship. She's done this kind of work before and must stay on her toes if she's going to implicate the wealthy Thomas Crown. The local cops and cultured community believe Mr. Crown to be beyond reproach; an untouchable pillar of wealth and good taste. These two characters exist in their luxurious world through strange circumstance and have made it their own through hard work and some bluffing. The movie provides glimpses into their lifestyles, and at the same time, keeps them both just outside what you'd expect from a wealthy businessman and a woman working for an insurance company. Supporting character Mr. Leary makes a cynical, yet caring detective attempting to save face by nabbing Thomas Crown - however it's quite obvious in a city the size of New York that a bored millionaire looking for thrills by staging a theft is not his priority. Mr. Leary is guilty of a bit of cussing and jaded police behaviour, but ya 'gotta hope he's still on the force. The story races from one clue to the next, and we glimpse a world where time means nothing, and money is just, well, not an issue. The film really sets the tone for the lush life with ultra-posh, elegant sets, millionaire-hobbies and exotic locations. The soundtrack is perfect, giving the entire movie an upmarket, worldly feel that befits a modern romance. This is really a love story for anyone who imagines being whisked away from the mundane into places that you've only read or heard about in glossy magazines. It's a film for any person out there who'd like to have the freedom to do what they want and damn the consequences. Well, either that or have enough money to do anything, then disappear. There is some hot on-screen chemistry between Thomas and Catherine, making the love scenes, coupled with the sexy music and breathtaking backgrounds, erotic. They have a healthy appetite for each other so the love scenes in his apartment and 'island retreat' are the 'stuff that dreams are made of.' Yes, there are little snafus, such as a painting being folded in a manner that would permanently ruin it, and the usual gaffes that serious film-goers will pick over - but heck, it's just a movie and a love story - let yourself go and imagine you're a woman who's just crashed a black tie event in a dress making every man in the room salivate, or that you're the man she's heading for on the dance floor - then have fun with it . . . In the end, for all their cunning, Thomas and Catherine must decide if they can trust each other, just like most men and women must do in any love story. What you may find hard to decide though, is who to root for, and who really wins the game of cat and mouse at the end of this movie.