Alrighty folks here's a looksee on THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR. This film is at the ADVANCE test screening stage where the film is not completed, it has a temp track, the effects are not all in place, and the film is inevitably a bit longer than absolutely necessary. Let's just hope that the test screening stage on this McTiernan film doesn't last as long as his last film, EATERS OF THE DEAD (aka THE THIRTEENTH WARRIOR ugh). I haven't heard a large sampling of reviews yet so it's too early to really get a bead on this film yet, so if you have seen it... let me know... Thanks...
Hey Harry, I recently got to attend a test screening of The Thomas Crown Affair, so I thought you might like to know how its coming along. I had heard about it on your site, but had no other knowledge of the movie, I hadn't seen the 1958 original. The version I saw of course was a working print filled with unbalanced color, a borrowed soundtrack and some really grainy scenes.
Pierce Bronsnan plays Thomas Crown, a billionaire with a love for imptressionist paintings and owner of an art gallery. And when a $10,000,000 painting is stolen, Rene Russo and Dennis Leary are on the case. We find out right away that Thomas Crown is the one who stole it, and Rene Russo's character, a a very smart 'bounty hunter' who will do anything (or anyone) to find what she's looking for, knows it and begins her chase.
The movie, directed by John McTiernan(sp?), started pretty bad. The heist was laughable, trying to be suspensful and action-packed with lots of really quick panning shots and the always present 'false danger'. As the movie progessess things start to get better, the characters begins to show some signs of life and the movie becoms a little bit more involving. Some things however, really stuck out. Throughout the entire movie, we see scenes of Brosnan is in some type of therapy, laying on a sofa, expressing his feeling to his psychiatrist, Faye Dunnaway, for absolutely no reason. It seems obvious that Dunnaway's scene were just added so she could be in the movie (since she starred in the 1958 version).
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
Another thing that really did not fit in were the erotic scenes with Brosnan and Russo, this is not that kind of movie - they didn't belong at all, they were completely distracting. The shameless PEPSI ONE promotion was also irritating, in one scene Russo opens a can and drinks it while the camera basically zooms in on the damn can, I expected her to stop and say "Ahh, and only one calorie!"
Those and some other annoying things prevent the movie from being as good as it could have been -but keep in mind that almost everything I had a problem with could be easily edited out, and probably will be. The questionaire we filled out in the end asked about the sex scenes and Faye Dunnaway scenes, and whether or not they should be left in.
The plot twists were the movie's strong points, and the relationship between Russo and Brosnan was smart and somewhat believable. The best parts were when Russo knows Brosnan took the painting, and Brosnan knows that Russo knows, and both are playing a sort of game with each other.
This seems like a negative review, but as a whole, the good plot twists, the (somewhat) involving characters and smart ending overcame the little annoyances and I came away from the movie pleased. And after the movie is edited, it will surely much better ( especially without those bad Faye Dunnaway scenes ) and move along at a quicker pace.
"T. Clifton"
