THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1999)
A Film Review
Copyright Dragan Antulov 2004
When Hollywood shoots so many remakes of classic 1960s and 1970s
films it is reasonable to expect at least one of those remakes to be of
the same quality or even better than the original. This happened with
John McTiernan's 1999 thriller THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR,
remake of Norman Jewison's 1968 film.
Protagonist of the film is Thomas Crown (played by Pierce Brosnan),
New York billionaire who is able to get anything money can buy. The
only thing he lacks in his life is excitement and he wants to get it
through things money can't buy. Priceless works of art belong to such
category and Crown decides to steal Monet's painting from
Metropolitan Museum. The heist is complete success and police, led
by Detective McMann (played by Denis Leary), is clueless until
attractive insurance investigator Catherine Banning (played by Rene
Russo) becomes involved in the investigation. She is not just
attractive woman, but also a very experienced in her job and she
proves that by quickly determining that Crown was the perpetrator
of the crime. The problem for Banning is in the lack of evidence and
she tries to solve it through unconventional means, including her
body. Crown is more than aware that the attractive investigator
wants to bring him down but he is nevertheless thrilled with this
combination of mind games and seduction.
New version of THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR is better than
original, but this is hardly an accomplishment because the time
wasn't very kind to Jewison's film. Split-screen techniques and
delightful individualistic amorality used to be groundbreaking in late
1960s, but today the best thing that film is remembered for is Michel
Legrand's song "Windmills Of My Mind". John McTiernan,
filmmaker with the reputation of one of the most successful action
directors in modern Hollywood, took less "artsy" and more
conventional approach to the story, making this film look more
attractive and effective. Complicated action scenes are marvel to
watch and cinematography by Tom Priestly Jr. provides entertaining
glimpse of the expensive houses, wardrobe and other manifestations
of the bored tycoon's lifestyle. Bill Conti covers all that with very
effective music score.
The casting was right for this sort of film. Pierce Brosnan, who made
a career playing James Bond, is very comfortable in another role that
requires suaveness and seductive charisma. Rene Russo is also very
credible in the role of intelligent and capable woman unafraid to use
her sexuality as a weapon. Russo was unafraid to disrobe in front of
camera, which was very rare for established Hollywood actresses in
her age. That bravery served film very well, adding an extra erotic
dimension to the story. Brosnan and Russo had great chemistry
together and they were one of the more realistic on-screen couples in
last few years. Denis Leary is also very effective as character who
serves as voice of reason and puts all events in their proper context.
This version of THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR is good film, but it
is far from perfect and it is unlikely that it could match its
predecessor's cult status. This is mostly due to script. The middle
section of the film is slightly overlong and the subplot related to
Crown's trophy mistress (played by supermodel Esther Canadas)
wasn't really necessary. The transformation of Banning from
determined investigator to the woman in love isn't handled properly.
The ending is slightly over the top. But all those flaws should be
forgiven because of one single accomplishment - this film is one of
rare entries in John McTiernan's filmography that doesn't feature
excessive violence. After watching THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR
the world is going to be slightly better looking place.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
Review written on August 13th 2004
Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax
http://film.purger.com - Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in
Croatian
http://www.ofcs.org - Online Film Critics Society
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