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 | 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 | Thief | Museum

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 19

8:00 PM

CW

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 | 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:

The house used as Crown's Caribbean get-away is owned by one of the 30 original families who settled in Martinique in the 1600s.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The titanium structure in Crown's briefcase would only hold the door if it were oriented vertically, instead of horizontally as shown.

Quotes:

Catherine Banning: What was it?
Thomas Crown: Nice little Renoir...
Catherine Banning: Oh... Renoir
[beat]
Catherine Banning: Nice little copy?
Thomas Crown: We'll never know will we?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in La très très grande entreprise (2008)

Soundtrack:

THE WINDMILLS OF YOUR MIND

"Thomas" is the "Crown" Jewel for your collection... SEE IT!

This DVD was an impulse buy, pure and simple. My wife and I like Pierce Brosnan, and I have enjoyed Renee Russo's other works, so what did I have to lose? Only my mind! This film was positively one of the most enjoyable, nail-biting, suspenseful romantic capers ever made.

A remake of the steamy 1968 Steve McQueen flick updated to the sleek and self-referential 90s, "Thomas Crown" features Brosnan as the title character - a bored billionaire businessman in the business of "acquisitions". For a thrill, he heists an extremely valuable Monet from the New York Museum right under the noses of security guards, cops, and about a thousand unsuspecting museum-goers. Renee Russo is the very sexy, very worldly Catherine Banning, whose insurance company underwrites the painting - and she is determined to get it back at any cost... But the cost just may be her soul as she woos, and then falls under the spell of the enigmatic Crown. Will Russo discover the location of the Monet? Will she rat out Thomas Crown? Or is Crown manipulating her affections like Bobby Fisher manipulates the pieces on a chess board?

What we have here is a high-speed chase film whose vehicle is clever dialog, rich and exotic direction, and more than a little sexual tension! Brosnan, as Crown, is ever the cool Brit charmer whose every word and action are as calculated as the movements of a Rolex. Russo smoulders every time she appears on screen. And when the two of them get together, the chemical reaction is pure dynamite.

Dennis Leary has a nice bit as a streetwise NYPD detective on the case, who dispenses advice to Russo's Banning, and watches her begin to spiral out of control. His role here most likely resulted in the deserved attempt at a television series on ABC ("The Job").

The action in the film moves exotically from caper to cover-up and back with dizzying speed... All the while, we are kept guessing about the motivations of the two lead, and find ourselves eagerly anticipating their next move. When the final checkmate comes, we are left totally bewildered, befuddled, and baffled... which is most-likely the director's intention!

On all levels, "The Thomas Crown Affair" will steal the hearts of men and women alike... but for different reasons - Men can enjoy the action and thrill of the chase, and Crown's ability to win over the most beautiful women and his attempt to get away with the ultimate heist... Ladies can marvel at the suave Brosnan and his life of extreme wealth, and all-the-while wonder if he will betray her, or if she will betray him...

I will not betray you... I ain't saying!