The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

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

Director:

John McTiernan

Writers:

Alan Trustman (story) (as Alan R. Trustman), Leslie Dixon (screenplay)

Stars:

Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo, Denis Leary

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Self-made billionaire Thomas Crown is bored of being able to buy everything he desires. Being irresistible to women, he also does not feel any challenge in that area. But there are a few things even he can't get, therefore Thomas Crown has a seldom hobby: He steals priceless masterpieces of Art. After the theft of a famous painting from Claude Monet, the only person suspecting Thomas Crown is Catherine Banning. Her job is to get the picture back, no matter how she accomplishes her mission. Unfortunately, Catherine gets involved too deeply with Thomas to keep a professional distance to the case. Fortunately, Thomas seems to fall for her, too.

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Plot Keywords:

sex in bed | sexual desire | female rear nudity | female frontal nudity | breasts | 

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Taglines:

Crime does pay. Handsomely.

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Genres:

Crime | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Polish French

Release Date:

6 August 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Afera Thomasa Crowna

Filming Locations:

Reid Hall, Manhattanville College, Purchase, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$48,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,600,719, 8 August 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$69,304,264, 13 February 2000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$55,000,000, 1 January 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists,Irish DreamTime,Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first of two remakes that John McTiernan made from Norman Jewison movies. The other one is Rollerball (2002).

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Goofs

At the police station Janni is in handcuffs wearing a long sleeve shirt over a white t-shirt. In the next scene he is still wearing handcuffs but the long sleeve shirt is removed. Difficult to get a shirt off over handcuffs.

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Quotes

Catherine Banning: This is an elegant crime, done by an elegant person. It's not about the money.
Detective Michael McCann: So, who steals a Monet, just to not sell it?
Catherine Banning: A Monet lover.
[Looks at a computer on a desk]
Catherine Banning: Whose desk is that?
Detective Paretti: Er...
Catherine Banning: Can I use it?
Detective Paretti: Sure.
Catherine Banning: OK, let's dig up all the major art auctions of the last five years, and see who's been bidding on Monets.
Catherine Banning: [Holds up a sheet of paper with details of auctions] See anyone we know?
[...]

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Crazy Credits

During the opening credits, the letters in the names of principal cast and crew switch same-letters (i.e., the "R's" in "Pierce Brosnan", the "E's" in "Dennis Leary").

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #19.134 (2011)

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Soundtracks

Cumenco
Written by Raf S. Astor and Eddie Bobe (as Eddy Bobe)
Performed by the Cumenco All-Stars
Produced by Todd Barkan and Jim Dunbar

User Reviews

A classy piece of work

Forget all the explosions, car chases, crazy villains, special effects... The Thomas Crown Affair is not an action movie. It´s not even a thriller. Instead, it´s a well-done cat-and-mouse movie that´s smart, entertaining and very sexy. If you had to use one word to describe the film it would have to be sophisticated. The movie might appeal more to mature audiences as both the leading man and the leading lady are over 40 years old. Pierce Brosnan can obviously do other roles beside James Bond, but the role of Thomas Crown is at least somewhat similar to 007. Both guys "enjoy women" and are very suave. Overall, Brosnan gives a solid performance and is overshadowed only by Rene Russo who simply oozes sexuality and class. She is simply perfect in her role and though she´s twice as old as I am I find her a real knockout. Not only is she extremely hot, but also a very talented and charismatic actress. A perfect combination! The classy dance scene between Brosnan and Russo belongs to the most sexually-charged scenes in history and the following love-making scene manages to be both sexy and stylish. Usually nude scenes in Hollywood movies seem somehow "uneasy", but in this movie the scene is done in real style and with sensual music the atmosphere is sizzling. Who would want a disposable bimbo like Britney Spears when you could have a real class-act woman like Rene Russo? I would also like to mention Bill Conti whose simple yet refined music is simply outstanding. Just listen to the music during the scene in which Crown and Banning go glider flying... You can just close your eyes and listen to this wonderful music. Now I have to find the soundtrack for this film! I guess I should mention that I´ve never seen the original Thomas Crown, but now I don´t even have to bother as its updated version is a true pleasure to watch. I have nothing negative to say about it so just go get this film on DVD and enjoy!