The Thomas Crown Affair (1999 film)
The Thomas Crown Affair | |
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![]() Original theatrical poster | |
Directed by | John McTiernan |
Screenplay by | |
Story by | Alan Trustman |
Based on | The Thomas Crown Affair 1968 film by Alan Trustman |
Produced by | |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Tom Priestley Jr. |
Edited by | John Wright |
Music by | Bill Conti |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | MGM Distribution Co. |
Release date |
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Running time | 114 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $48 million[1] |
Box office | $124.3 million[1] |
The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1999 American romantic heist film directed by John McTiernan, written by Leslie Dixon and Kurt Wimmer and is a remake of the 1968 film of the same name.[2][3] Its story follows Thomas Crown, a billionaire who steals a painting from an art gallery and is pursued by an insurance investigator with the two falling in love. It stars Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo, and Denis Leary.
The film was produced by United Artists and Irish DreamTime and was released on August 6, 1999. It grossed $14.6 million during its opening weekend and $124.3 million worldwide, against a budget of $48 million.[1] It received generally positive reviews from critics.[4][5]
Plot
Crown lends a Pissarro to fill the Monet's space in the museum and falls under Banning's suspicion. She persuades McCann to begin surveillance of Crown, deducing that he is motivated not by money but the sheer thrill of the crime. Banning later accepts Crown's invitation to dinner.[6]
At dinner, Banning has a copy of Crown's keys made; she and her team search his home and discover the Monet, which is revealed to be a taunting imitation painted over a copy of Poker Sympathy from the Dogs Playing Poker series. Banning confronts Crown, and the two give in to their mutual attraction and have sex.
Banning and Crown continue their
Later, Banning finds Crown packing his belongings with Anna. He promises Banning his interest lies with her alone, stating that Anna works for him but he would be compromising her to define the nature of their association. Crown offers to return the Monet by putting it back on the wall of the museum, and gives Banning a time and place to meet him when he's finished. Tearfully, Banning leaves and informs McCann.
The following day, the police stake out the museum, waiting to arrest Crown. Banning learns from McCann that the fake Monet was painted by Anna; the imprisoned forger Knutzhorn is her father, a former business partner of Crown, who became her guardian. Crown arrives and advertises his position in the lobby. The police realize that Crown expected Banning to turn him in and that he has set up another plot. Before the police can apprehend him, Crown blends into the crowd, aided by lookalikes in bowler hats à la Magritte's The Son of Man. Evading the officers, Crown releases smoke bombs and pulls a fire alarm, setting off the museum's fire sprinklers. His donated Pissarro, hanging in the Monet's place, is washed clean by the sprinklers to reveal the real Monet.
Crown's game is made clear: upon stealing the Monet, Crown had Anna forge the Pissarro over it and "returned" it to the museum. However, Crown has now vanished with another painting--one that Banning had told him she would have selected over the Monet. With the Monet recovered, Banning considers her role in the case concluded; the second missing painting is not covered by her employer. McCann briefly stops Banning to press her for anything she might know, but admits he has since stopped caring whether or not they catch Crown and bids her farewell. Banning then races to meet Crown at the rendezvous, but finds only a bowler-hatted courier who delivers to her the newly-stolen painting. Devastated, Banning has the painting sent to McCann and boards a flight back to London. In her seat after takeoff, she begins to cry when a hand from the row behind extends to her a handkerchief and offers her comfort. Recognizing the passenger's thinly-disguised voice, she turns to find Crown sitting behind her, and the two are reunited.
Cast
- Pierce Brosnan as Thomas Crown, a billionaire and Catherine's lover.
- Rene Russo as Catherine Banning, an insurance investigator and Thomas' lover.
- Denis Leary as Detective Michael McCann, a police detective.
- Fritz Weaver as John Reynolds
- Frankie Faison as Detective Paretti, a police detective.
- Ben Gazzara as Andrew Wallace
- Mark Margolis as Heinrich Knutzhorn
- Esther Cañadas as Anna Tyrol Knutzhorn
- James Saito as Paul Cheng
- Faye Dunaway as Psychiatrist
- Michael Lombard as Bobby McKinley
- Simon Jones as Accountant on phone (uncredited)[7]
- Cynthia Darlow as Daria
- Daniel Oreskes as Petru
Dunaway played the Catherine Banning role in the 1968 original.[8] However, the character's name was Vicki Anderson.
Production
At first, director John McTiernan was unavailable for the project. Pierce Brosnan and his fellow producers considered several directors (including Mike Newell, Andrew Davis, Roger Donaldson) before returning to their original choice.[9] McTiernan then received the script and added his own ideas to the production.[10]
Script amendments
After McTiernan signed on to the project, he changed the theme of the central heist and a number of key scenes. McTiernan felt that contemporary audiences would be less forgiving of Thomas Crown if he staged two armed bank robberies for fun as McQueen did in the original, rather than if he staged an unarmed art heist. He wrote the heist based on the
References to 1968 film
There are a number of echo references to the original 1968 version of the film. The most obvious is the casting of Faye Dunaway as Crown's psychiatrist; Dunaway portrayed insurance investigator Vicki Anderson in the original. In the remake, "The Windmills of Your Mind" plays during the ballroom scene, as background music in a couple of other scenes, and during the credits at the end; the song earned an Oscar for the original film. Both films share a nearly identical scene with Crown playing high-stakes golf, and in both films Crown pilots a glider for recreation.
Filming
Filming took place in several parts of New York City, including
The glider scenes were shot at
Paintings
The paintings, copies of which were supplied by "Troubetzkoy Paintings" in New York, appearing in the film are:
- Cardiff, Wales.
- Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
- Noon: Rest From Work (After Millet) by Vincent van Gogh – The painting Crown admires and calls "his haystacks," the original is owned by Musée d'Orsay in Paris, France.
- The Artist's Garden at Eragny by Camille Pissarro.
- The Son of Man by René Magritte – The painting that is seen several times in the film depicting a man in a suit with a Bowler hat and an apple covering his face.
- Banks of the Seine at Argenteuil by Édouard Manet – The second painting to go missing, given to, and later returned by, Catherine. It is currently housed at the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery in London.[14]
- The Intervention of the Sabine Women by Jacques-Louis David, owned by the Louvre in Paris.
- A painting in the style of Cassius Coolidge's series, Dogs Playing Pokeris shown but it is not one of Coolidge's works.
Soundtrack
The Thomas Crown Affair | |
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Ark 21 (original) (re-release)Pangaea |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The soundtrack was composed by
Track listing
- "Windmills of Your Mind" – Sting
- "Sinnerman" – Nina Simone
- "Everything (...Is Never Quite Enough)" – Wasis Diop
- "Caban La Ka Kratchie" – Georges Fordant
- "Black & White X 5" – Bill Conti
- "Never Change" – Bill Conti
- "Meet Ms. Banning" – Bill Conti
- "Goodnight/Breaking & Entering" – Bill Conti
- "Glider Pt. 1" – Bill Conti
- "Glider Pt. 2" – Bill Conti
- "Cocktails" – Bill Conti
- "Quick Exit" – Bill Conti
Release
Theatrical
The Thomas Crown Affair premiered on July 27, 1999, and was theatrically released in the United States on August 6, 1999, by United Artists and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Home media
The Thomas Crown Affair was released on DVD in the
Reception
Box office
The Thomas Crown Affair grossed $69,305,181 at the United States box office and a further $55,000,000 in other territories, totaling $124,305,181 worldwide against a budget of $48 million.[1]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 69% based on 102 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's consensus states: "Sleek, stylish, and painlessly diverting, The Thomas Crown Affair is a remake of uncommon charm."[4] On Metacritic the film has a score of 72% based on reviews from 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[5]
Accolades
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
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2000 | Blockbuster Entertainment Award | Favourite Actor – Drama/Romance | Pierce Brosnan | Won |
Favourite Supporting Actor – Drama/Romance | Denis Leary | Won | ||
Favourite Actress – Drama/Romance | Rene Russo | Nominated | ||
Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award | Best Contemporary Hair Styling – Feature | Enzo Angileri | Won | |
Golden Satellite Award |
Best Original Score | Bill Conti | Nominated |
Future
In January 2007, it was announced that a sequel would be a loose remake of the 1964 film Topkapi.[16] Pierce Brosnan said in January 2009 that Paul Verhoeven was attached to direct the film.[17] In 2010, Verhoeven said that he had left the project due to script changes and a change in the regime.[18] At one point, both Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron were rumored for a part in the film, with Brosnan more keen on bringing Theron on board.[19] In April 2013, Brosnan acknoweldged the film's status of being in development hell, but claimed he would still like to do it.[20] The initial script was penned by John Rogers from a story he had co-written with Harley Peyton while additional material was provided by Nick Meyer, Michael Finch and Karl Gajdusek.
In the April 2014 edition of
In 2016,
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
- ^ Luksic, Jim (August 6, 1999). "BROSNAN, RUSSO ARE REMAKE'S CROWN JEWELS". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ Smith, Christopher (August 12, 1999). "At the Movies". Bangor Daily News, The Scene. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ a b "The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- ^ a b "The Thomas Crown Affair". Metacritic. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (2021-07-14). "Wes Tooke To Pen MGM's 'Thomas Crown Affair' Reimagining Starring Michael B. Jordan". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
- ^ "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Simon Jones". Tvparty.com. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
- ^ a b Pacheo, Patrick (1999-08-01). "Art of the Con". Pbfiles.t35.com. Archived from the original on 2007-03-13. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
- ^ Bond, Jeff (August 1999). "Brosnan uses his Bond clout to remake Thomas Crown Affair". EON Magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-03-13. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
- ^ Cercel, Elif (1999-08-09). "Interview with John McTiernan, Director, 'The Thomas Crown Affair'". Adobe Premiere World. Archived from the original on 2007-03-13. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
- ^ "Creating The World of Thomas Crown". Pbfiles.t35.com. Archived from the original on 2007-03-13. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
- ^ "Thomas Knauff". Records.fai.org. Archived from the original on 2002-08-21. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
- ^ "Hall of Fame biographies". Soaringmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2006-10-08. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
- ^ "World Collection". World Collection. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
- AllMusic[1999] [Original Score] Bill Conti
- ^ Martindale, Stone (January 26, 2007). "Pierce Brosnan: Thomas Crown in The Topkapi Affair". Monsters and Critics. Archived from the original on February 4, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ Fischer, Paul (January 20, 2009). "Brosnan offers Topkapi update". Moviehole. Archived from the original on April 22, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ Rosenberg, Adam (April 15, 2010). "Exclusive: Paul Verhoeven No Longer Attached To Direct 'The Thomas Crown Affair 2'". Movies Blog. MTV. Archived from the original on September 13, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ Holmes, Matt (June 25, 2011). "Pierce Brosnan wants Charlize Theron over Angelina Jolie for THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR 2". WhatCulture. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
- ^ "Brosnan: Thomas Crown 2 is dormant". Irish Independent. April 21, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
- ^ John McTiernan Talks Thomas Crown 2 Archived April 29, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "The Thomas Crown Affair Remake to Star Michael B. Jordan". /Film. 2016-02-24. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
- ^ Kit, Borys (24 February 2016). "Michael B. Jordan, MGM to Remake 'The Thomas Crown Affair' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 21, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie & Peter White (April 14, 2023). "'Robocop,' 'Stargate', 'Legally Blonde' & 'Barbershop' Among Titles In Works For Film & TV As Amazon Looks To Supercharge MGM IP". Deadline. Retrieved April 15, 2023.