The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

John McTiernan

Writers (WGA):

Alan Trustman (story)
Leslie Dixon (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 August 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

How do you get the man who has everything?

Plot:

A very rich and successful playboy amuses himself by stealing artwork, but may have met his match in a seductive detective.

Plot Keywords:

Trust | Painting | Art | Museum | Billionaire

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Pierce Brosnan	...	Thomas Crown
Rene Russo	...	Catherine Banning
Denis Leary	...	Michael McCann
Ben Gazzara	...	Andrew Wallace
Frankie Faison	...	Detective Paretti
Fritz Weaver	...	John Reynolds
Charles Keating	...	Friedrich Golchan
Mark Margolis	...	Heinrich Knutzhorn
Faye Dunaway	...	The Psychiatrist
Michael Lombard	...	Bobby McKinley
Bill Ambrozy	...	Proctor
Michael Bahr	...	Proctor (as Michael S. Bahr)
Robert D. Novak	...	Proctor (as Robert Novak)
Joe H. Lamb	...	Proctor (as Joe Lamb)
James Saito	...	Paul Cheng

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality and language.

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Polish | English | German | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Netherlands:MG6 | Iceland:L | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Denmark:7 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | South Africa:PG | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Brazil:16 | Australia:MA (2009 DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:6 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:18 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG (original rating) (cut) | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

18 East 68th Street, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

United Artists

Trivia:

In the scene where Catherine sees Anna in Thomas' bedroom, Pierce Brosnan was instructed to physically hold onto Rene Russo, so that she would have to struggle to get away from him. Russo did not know that Brosnan was going to hold on to her.

Goofs:

Continuity: The coffee cup Catherine is sipping from as she watches Crown leave the police station changes from standard NYC "Greek-style," to plain, back to "Greek-style" between shots.

Quotes:

Thomas Crown: Do you want to dance? Or do you want to DANCE?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Psych: Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Piece (#1.3)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

THE COMPLICATED MAN

Bang-Up Fun Fresh Re-Make

Hooray for Hollywood! The world may be falling apart so like we needed money spent on a remake of "The Thomas Crown Affair." But then heck if Tinseltown in all its unoriginality doesn't do a bang-up fun job of unreality with characters who have no place in the Unreel World, from the classy looking opening credits to Sting covering "Windmills of my Mind" over the closing credits.

In the opening scene I'm thinking, wait I know that woman's voice and voila it's Faye Dunaway from the original film as Crown's shrink - I cheered out loud (OK so I was the only one in the audience that got the joke).

Pierce Brosnan and Renee Russo are an age-appropriate couple with genuine fireworks and chemistry (with help from director John McTiernan and editor John Wright in the tango and copulation scenes).

There's unconventionally good music choices - that tango is from Three Penny Opera of all things and a terrific use of Nina Simone's "Sinner Man" in a marvelous Magritte-inspired ironically tense heist scene. Brosnan's trainer gets a credit, as there's plenty of skin. Russo laughs, a gorgeous belly laugh, unlike so many frozen femmes fatale.

The credits also say that no museum was used as a locale, so gosh they really recreated the Met amazingly accurately (and how much did that cost?), though it didn't seem crowded enough Crown goes in at 9 when the museum doesn't open until 11.

I would think this is a great date movie.

(originally written 8/22/1999)