Review of Thomas Crown Affair, The

Introduction

It’s easy to imagine why some director would want to remake a classic film like ‘Psycho’ or ‘The Magnificent Ambersons’, but I’m mystified as to how it ever seemed a good idea to remake a flash-in-the-pan crime romance from the 60s that everyone would rather forget. However, against all odds, John McTiernan (‘Die Hard’, ‘Predator’) has turned ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ from Norman Jewison’s sloppy split-screen mod-ishness and silly Freudian comedy into a more than competent romantic thriller with plenty of action and steamy bells and whistles thrown in.

Video

There’s an extremely good anamorphic 1:2.35 transfer on display here that shows few signs of compression, dirt or other artifacts. The colours are a little muted, but aside from that, a very strong image.

Audio

A wonderful 5.1 Dolby surround track makes brilliant use of McTiernan’s trademark jaunty play with music and sound. The soundtrack is wonderful, from Bill Conti’s evocative score to perfectly selected songs from the likes of Nina Simone. And to make things better, the terrible Sting re-dub of the already slightly terrible ‘Windmills of My Mind’ is excised from the movie.

Features

Very solid, well presented documentary that details the various decisions made to update the story for a modern audience. McTiernan’s commentary is slightly undernourished but unlike most of the self-absorbed directors who make ponderous audio-commentaries, he actually feels like a professional, and possesses an intelligence well beyond his action-man tag. There is also a music video, the film’s exciting trailer and wonderful 3-D menus that have to be some of the strongest I’ve seen. A good example of quality over quantity.

Conclusion

Shrewd and sexy. McTiernan’s jazzy, elegant and playful remake of the overripe Steve McQueen original is essentially like its predecessor in that style takes precedence over any perceivable content. However, the passing of time has fermented and matured the story of playboy NY socialite Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan) who commits an elaborate art-heist, presumably to enliven a life of golf games, hostile take-overs and daredevil sailing. Enter ‘cop on the case’ (a surprisingly amiable Dennis Leary) and moody red-head insurance mercenary Catherine Banning (a sly post-feminist turn by Rene Russo). It doesn’t take a degree in Aristotelian Drama to figure out what happens but the movie is directed with a silky slight-of-hand and, when needed, a red-hot panache by McTiernan (who usually makes bicep-ridden action pics.)

For all its slick cleverness, it’s the performances that give this sizzling cinematic fajita its human buoyancy: Brosnan may not lay claim to McQueen’s iconic status, but he doesn’t even try, with a confident smirk straight from the Roger Moore handbook, Brosnan plays the role with grace and a subtle weariness. Russo is even better, where most actresses would be all at sea ‘playing washed-out’, she is intense and unselfconscious. Russo turns a cliché: the spunky yet vulnerable heroine into an urbane, witty and utterly compelling character. Remakes usually sink like granite boulders, Thomas Crown ‘99 betters its predecessor with such a effortless zeal that despite the raunchy sex, it barely even breaks a sweat.