Starting this week, with The Thomas Crown Affair, I’m going to try something a little different with these weekly reviews. They’ll shift to mirror the tone of my James Bond series review, a little less formal, more on the fun side. I might switch things up here and there, and go the more traditional review route. But let’s see where this takes us.
And speaking of James Bond, The Thomas Crown Affair stars Pierce Brosnan. Brosnan, of course, was in the middle of his tenure as the suave secret agent when he took on the role of suave billionaire art thief.
After orchestrating a heist to steal a Monet painting, worth $100 million, Crown finds himself in a battle of wits with seductive insurance investigator Catherine Banning (Rene Russo). And from there it’s off to the races, as the two engage in a battle of wits that only two highly intelligent, extremely attractive individuals can do. And I. Am. Here for it.
The Heist
Give me a good heist movie any day of the week. Ocean’s 11 is my all time favorite movie, Inside Man, The Town, The Italian Job, the list goes on. I can’t get enough. And much of that has to do with the heist itself. And the Thomas Crown heist is pretty good, as long as you can suspend your disbelief a little bit. It actually works for the most part, except for two very important details.
Did you notice anything? Say, specifically when Crown enters and leaves the gallery? No chance he gets in and out without being seen, even with all the commotion. But even still, I’m not here to complain. Thomas Crown is supposed to be a fun movie. So what if there are a few small logistical hiccups? The heist was creative, engaging, just complicated enough, and just believable enough. Had the movie taken on a more serious tone, the heist could have been a little tighter. But for what the movie actually is, it was about the perfect opening.
Good Looking People Doing Good Looking People Things
This is the bulk of the movie. It’s a cat and mouse game between Crown and Banning. Two people who are used to always coming out on top, finally matched up against someone who might be the one person able to beat them. And it’s delightful to watch. Sure, Banning straight up ignores several literal laws, but she’s okay with it. After all, she’s not a detective. All she cares about is recovering the painting. It’s a little frustrating to watch, but like the heist, Thomas Crown doesn’t take itself too seriously, so it plays. As does the entire Crown/Banning relationship.
When it starts out, they both know the other’s game, and they’re down to play along. But then they start to fall for each other, which obviously complicates things. They don’t know if the feelings are real. They don’t know if they can trust each other. If Crown turns over the painting, will Banning turn him in or stay with him? If he doesn’t, does Banning give up and go home? Or give up and continue the relationship? It’s a fun back and forth, strengthened on the backs of two respected – if maybe underrated – actors, who just so happen to be beyond attractive. And with their sizzling chemistry, that’s what these roles needed.
And of course the dance scene (more on this later, actually).
Neither the Crown nor Banning roles required Oscar-level performances, but it needs two people who have believable on-screen chemistry. If that’s not there, the movie would be ruined. And these two have that in spades. Sometimes the “secret sauce” if you will is as simple as watching good looking people doing good looking people things (if your mind’s in the gutter now, come on out please).
Tuxedo Clause
This is one of my favorite pieces of random movie trivia. It should be noted that it hasn’t been officially confirmed anywhere (at least not that I could find; I’d welcome any solid proof). But after signing on to play James Bond, the rumor goes that Brosnan was not allowed to wear a tuxedo in any other film while under contract to play the British spy.
This posed a problem for Thomas Crown as their was an important scene taking place at a black tie gala (see the dance video from above). This article from The Suits of James Bond does a great job explaining everything wrong with Brosnan’s outfit in this scene.
While this is a fantastic scene, it does add an unintentional layer of humor when you factor in the wardrobe aspect. I also LOVE that there is an entire article dedicated to why this was a fashion travesty.
The Final Heist
Requisite spoiler warning for those who haven’t seen the movie, though I’m assuming if you’re reading this you. But still.
As hard as this would have been to pull off – especially with such little time to prepare – it’s another fun heist. And it’s different enough from the opening one that the movie is able to clearly set the two apart. As Basher (Don Cheadle) would tell us eight years later in Ocean’s 13: “You don’t run the same gag twice. You do the next gag.”
It might be easy to fall into the trapping of tweaking an already-used gag ever so slightly, thinking it would make for a fun creative twist. But changing it up is much more fun, and it makes it harder to figure out what’s going on. However, therein lies probably my biggest issue with Thomas Crown: How in the hell did he steal the second painting?
I get it, we’re not supposed to know for sure, it’s left up to our imagination. But I cannot for the life of me come up with a feasible way for Crown to have pulled it off. Maybe it’s just because I’m not a master thief. Maybe I don’t have that sort of creative mind. But either way, it sticks with me. I honestly don’t care that the movie leaves up to the discretion of the audience to make their own decision here. But it just seems so implausible. If you have any good theories, hit us up in the comments. I’d love to hear ’em.
Doesn’t Reinvent the Wheel, But Still Plenty of Fun
In terms of fitting into the heist genre, there’s nothing particularly unique about The Thomas Crown Affair. But led by Brosnan and Russo’s excellent performances, and several fun creative choices, the movie is a blast from beginning to end.