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?

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)

Runtime: 113 min

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.
[...]

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!

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