THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR - 1999
Directed by John McTiernan
Starring Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo, Denis Leary, Ben Gazzara, Frankie Faison, Fritz Weaver, Charles Keating, Mark Margolis, Micael Lombard, Esther Canadas, and Faye Dunaway
Genre: Romantic Caper (Audio clip)
This was very likely the last truly good film directed by John McTiernan, the last catchy score from Bill Conti, the last pure movie star performance from Rene Russo (though she was pretty strong in Nightcrawler), and yes....probably THE best Bond performance by Pierce Brosnan. He was good in all of the Bond films but with the exception of Goldeneye, none of those films had the wit, charm, of even (if we're being honest) the suspense of this gem.
No it doesn't have much in the way of Bond-like action but there ARE two sterling art-heist sequences to bookend the movie. Both are crisply shot and edited, demonstrating once again just how much of a master McTiernan has always been at immersing the audience in the thrill of a cleverly executed heist....whether it's perpetrated by the supposed good guys OR bad guys.
And at its core is of course the central romance between Brosnan's financier billionaire/art thief Thomas Crown and Russo's art bounty hunter Catherine Banning. Admittedly these two have fun banter, scorching chemistry, and look positively AMAZING together.😅 That said, their love story takes on a more serious tone towards the end which I'm not sure completely gels with the overall breezy tone of the movie up until that point. Besides a couple of awkward line readings, it's not remotely enough to really sink the movie and at the very least, McTiernan constructs a pretty air-tight narrative around them to keep things moving including some adept supporting players.
Among them, one standout is Denis Leary in one of his first TRUE straight roles with a sharp acid turn as the no-nonsense NYPD detective who has to partner with Russo's Catherine in nailing the perpetrator of the first art heist which kicks off the movie. Leary isn't given a ton to do but every scene of his just works as he provides sort of an inadvertent running commentary to the overall story through his interactions with Russo....including gems like this one:
"I love this neighborhood. Some of these broads are wearing my salary."
Best Needle drop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film):
The big dramatic closing heist for this movie is a show-stopper for any number of visual reasons…..it IS a genuine kick to see dozens of similarly dressed men wearing bowler hats and suits roving about the museum to draw attention from Mr. Crowne. Just a fun sequence equal parts chaotic and clever…..but even better, the cherry on top is the song we hear playing over all of this. (Audio clip)
And funnily enough, this is the second time in just under a month that this award has been given to a certain LEGENDARY jazz, soul singer…..Tyron, North Carolina’s own favorite daughter, the late great Nina Simone. This is truly one of her classics and possibly even her LONGEST song? It’s from her seminal 1965 album, “Pastel Blues” – it’s fast-paced and catchy with some racing piano keys as the main hook. What’s great about thing song is not only is it so hummable but that is also KIND of builds as it progresses….just slightly you can hear Simone’s vocals grow a bit louder AND the piano notes seem to accelerate too. Granted this song has been sampled and remixed several times over but it’s never used better than during the climax of this movie – I’m referring to….”Sinnerman.” (Audio clip)
Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):
The late, great Ben Gazzara is in this….barely and it’s a strange cameo to say the least. He appears in one boardroom scene briefly early on as Thomas Crowne’s attorney….and then about halfway through when the NYPD come to search Crowne’s home. I THINK this ONE scene is the main purpose of this character…. (Audio clip)
Yes the mere idea of a wealthy “Master of the Universe” type having his attorney just appear from within his kitchen….wearing an apron….ready to negotiate a warrant with the police….it’s kind of funny and clever, I get it. But why hire an award-winning actor with SUCH a distinct face and presence as Gazzara to play him? This dude was Brad Wesley from the original Roadhouse and had a prominent role in Todd Solonz’ HAPPINESS the year before this….the less said of the plot of that movie the better trust me. But usually when Gazzara appears, he’s effectively dishing out some combination of sleazy and/or sinister….and here, he has virtually no dialogue as the visual joke of a privileged man’s effete lawyer? It’s just strange, maybe he had some scenes left on the cutting room floor…..
Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):
It basically comes down to one of the two major heist sequences at the Met which bookend the movie and as clever as that last one is referred to just previously….with all of the bowler hats and that great needle-drop, I just LOVE how our titular character is introduced within that opening heist. It all feels VERY relaxed and laid back on his part as he is just hanging out staring at a nearby painting, reading his paper, munching on his croissant, and…..of course looking looking sharp in a tailor suit. (Audio clip)
Then right after he has subtly drawn attention to the much larger decoy heist going on, the alarms have been set off and the gate for that viewing area starts to shut down….we see him spring into action! In the most smooth manner possible, we see Thomas glide across the room, grab a briefcase he planted under a bench, grab the Monet painting from where its hanging on the wall…..and then….and apparently there was some clever editing done to make this look more seamless than it likely was…..he yanks the painting out of its frame, GENTLY folds it in half (?), and places it inside of the briefcase where he is able to close it as if he’s closing a book?? Yeah apparently that was one major question during production: HOW can some one fold a painting like that without damaging it? Well in this case, McTiernan and crew just decided……because he CAN…and we’ll just make it LOOK cool. And they did…..Brosnan then rolls under the small portion of the gate which is still open and struts out with his painting….to hail a cab. It’s for moments like this that you hire Pierce Brosnan and if I’m being honest, it’s his most BOND-ian moment even though it didn’t happen in a Bond movie. Brosnan just makes it all seem SO effortless. (Audio clip)
MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):
If you were as BIG of a fan of McTiernan back in the ‘90’s as I was, this movie will always serve as a bit of a bittersweet coda to his career. As we got deeper into the decade, his stock just kept dropping with MAJOR disappointments like Last Action Hero, Medicine Man, and The 13th Warrior. YES….I know, there are folks who will swear up and down about the greatness of Die Hard With A Vengeance….not me sorry, I liked it and I get it was a hit but in the end, I STILL consider it to be the THIRD best Die Hard movie…just me.
This was KIND of a comeback for him….only to see the wheels fly off further in the ‘2000’s with Basic, Rollerball, and…..cough cough….incarceration. At the end of the day, this just feels like the sort of grown-up caper movie that John had been building towards since the get-go – there’s style, there humor, there’s passion, and there’s the confidence of a filmmaker who’s having fun both delivering on rom-com tropes and SUBVERTING them….with that late reveal of the actual identity of Esther Canadas’ character as one of the more delightful examples. (Audio clip)
Undoubtedly both Brosnan and Russo deserve enormous props here….but if you’re a Bond fan like myself, you look back on most of his Bond films as a disappointment….the Broccoli’s and their assorted group of directors-for-hire never quite figured out how to best utilize Brosnan. And looking back on Russo’s ‘90’s, she did some really strong stuff in movies like Tin Cup and In the Line of Fire….but eventually, she was getting more relegated to thankless love interest roles in stuff like Outbreak and Ransom. Looking back on his filmography, he worked wonders with Arnie who up until Predator was mostly relegated to only quips or grunts from his characters….he guided Bruce Willis’ instant transformation from sitcom wise-ass into an everyman action hero….and with ‘Red October, he helped serve up Alec Baldwin at his most LIKEABLE before OR since. And one of his lasting triumphs with this movie will be as the filmmaker who really helped each of Brosnan and Russo’s respective stars shine the BRIGHTEST they ever have….all within the package of a tight, entertaining genre hybrid….also the rare remake which VASTLY improves upon its original. For helping lightning strike ONE last time, John McTiernan is the MVP.
Final Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5
Happy 25th Anniversary to the sort of fun, sexy, breezy genre entertainment for grown-ups which we just don’t get much of any longer….hell it FELT pretty fresh back in ’99, even more so now!
Streaming on Max
And that ends another EFFORTLESS review!
