Sunday, November 13, 2011

The Thomas Crown Affair by John McTiernan, 1999 (R)


with Pierce Brosnan (The Ghost Writer), Rene Russo (Thor, Thor 2: The Dark World), Denis Leary (Ice Age), Ben Gazzara (Paris Je T'aime), Frankie Faison, Faye Dunaway, Fritz Weaver (Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight), Charles Keating, Mark Margolis...

This 1999 remake of the 1968 classic showcases debonair Pierce Brosnan as the titular billionaire who, for kicks, would rather steal works of art than buy them. Charged with investigating his crimes, sleuth Catherine (Rene Russo) instead falls under his spell. Despite the warnings of detective Michael (Denis Leary), Catherine moves closer to Thomas and finds herself facing a moral quandary.

I watched this film when it came out and loved it. It actually made me change my mind about the acting skills of Pierce Brosnan and his ability to play a gentleman, since I wasn't convinced of his performance in James Bond movies. But he actually has a real class to himself, maybe not as an action man, maybe not as a British gentleman, but as an rich American seducer and gentleman. Also, I got fascinated by the strong leading role of Rene Russo, I actually believe that this is a complete feminist movie that is ruled by this woman. So, for many year, I remembered that movie quite positively. I finally watched it again, in need of the "Catherine" character, and loved it again. Maybe it got old in some aspect, such as the computers and cell phones (this is a killer time proof), but on the other hand, luxury is still luxury, not much has changed in the standards, outfits impeccable, same goes to the Met, not a bit has changed either, and the seduction theme is still very up to date, and maybe won't change for quite some more time. I tried afterward to watch the original movie from 1968, but didn't get inspired by Steve McQueen. I forgot to mention a fun fact, the Psychiatrist Thomas sees is Faye Dunaway, who in the original cast was Catherine.

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