The Thomas Crown Affair

Plot

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

Release Year: 1999

Rating: 6.7/10 (46,210 voted)

Critic's Score: 72/100

Director:
John McTiernan

Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo, Denis Leary

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.

Writers: Alan Trustman, Leslie Dixon

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

Taglines:
How do you get the man who has everything?

Details

Official Website:
MGM |

Release Date: 6 August 1999

Filming Locations: 18 East 68th Street, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $48,000,000

(estimated)

Opening Weekend: $14,600,719
(USA)
(8 August 1999)
(2427 Screens)

Gross: $124,305,181
(Worldwide)
(1 January 2001)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

The dark green Shelby Mustang that Crown drives on Martinique was originally intended to be used for Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in
Last Action Hero, another John McTiernan film, and was retrieved from the director's garage for this film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes:
On the day of the original art museum theft, they say it is a very hot day. Yet they then show the streets of New York where several people are wearing overcoats.

Quotes:

The Psychiatrist:
I want you to talk about women.
[waits for a few moments]

The Psychiatrist:
Mr. Crown?

Thomas Crown:
I'm sorry?

The Psychiatrist:
Women. You get to talk about women.

Thomas Crown:
Oh, I enjoy women.

The Psychiatrist:
Enjoyment isn't intimacy.

Thomas Crown:
And intimacy isn't necesarily enjoyment.

The Psychiatrist:
How would you know? Has it occured to you that you have a problem with trust?

Thomas Crown:
[smirking]
I trust myself implicitly.
[…]

User Review

A classy piece of work

Rating: 8/10

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!