Rene + Lucia: Thomas Crown Affair (MOVIE REVIEW)

segunda-feira, 25 de junho de 2018

Thomas Crown Affair (MOVIE REVIEW)

Thomas Crown Affair poster, featuring Pierce Brosnan & Rene Russo.
(photo credits: MGM Pictures)

Director: John McTiernan (known by Die Hard & The Hunt for Red October).

Producers: Michael Tadross, Pierce Brosnan & Beau St. Clair.

Written by: Alan Trustman, Leslie Dixon & Kurt Wimmer.

Main Cast:

Pierce Brosnan -------- Thomas Crown

Rene Russo ----------- Catherine Olds Banning

Denis Leary ------------ Detective Michael McCann

Faye Dunaway ------- Thomas' psychiatrist

Esther Cañadas ------ Anna Tyrol Knutzhorn

Fritz Weaver ---------- John Reynolds

Frankie Faison ------- Detective Parretti

Ben Gazzara -------- Andrew Wallace

Pierce Brosnan, all eyes on Rene Russo: "Do you wanna dance or DO YOU WANNA DANCE?"
(photo credits: MGM Pictures)

Release Date: August 6, 1999 (USA) / September 3, 1999 (Brazil)

Running Time: 113 min.

Budget / Box office: $48 million / $124.3 million (box office success).

Plot summary: Based on the 1968 movie of the same name. In the remake, Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan, great in Mrs. Doubtfire & 007 movies), a self-made billionaire, is bored of everything he desires, but he's irresistible to women. Therefore, Thomas has a hobby - stealing art masterpieces.
After the theft of a Monet painting (stolen by Thomas Crown), the only person who suspects Crown is Catherine Olds Banning (Rene Russo), a sexy insurance investigator, but smart, driven and alone. Her job: get the painting back to the MET Museum, in New York City.
But in the middle of the investigation, Catherine falls in love with Thomas in an unexpected way. The romance happens in three moments: a black and white ball, a gliding flight and two days in Martinique (France).
Back in Manhattan, Catherine thinks she has reason to be jealous, so when he suggests they go off together, she hesitates... because the insurance investigator also suspects that there's another woman in Thomas' life, Anna (Esther Cañadas), which makes Ms. Banning very unsure to trust Crown.

The ending is when Catherine, shaken and fallen apart, is on plane to Britain. A hand reaches through the seats from behind her and gives her a handkerchief while using a voice that doesn't quite sound right. She looks in the seat behind her to find Crown. She leaps at him, furious at his actions. "Did you set this up?" shouts Catherine to Thomas, and her screams were listened by the stewardess.

And both kissed each other. While Ms.Banning hugs Mr. Crown, she whispers, in a seductive way, in his ear: "If you pull a stunt like that again... I'll break both your arms!"

Rene Russo in scene of Thomas Crown Affair... so sexy and seductive!!!
(photo credits: MGM Pictures)

Fun Facts about the movie:

There are several changes comparing the remake from the 1968 original (directed by Norman Jewison), most notable for the amount of intimacy and nudity scenes between Catherine (Rene Russo) & Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan).
Rene Russo's clothes were entirely done by Michael Kors for the Celine collection. Along with her hairdo used in the movie, Rene's Catherine Banning was her best character done in her entire acting career.
Rene Russo did her first nude scenes of her career in Thomas Crown Affair.
First of two remakes John McTiernan did from Norman Jewison movies. The other movie was Rollerball (2002), starring Rebecca Romjin, Jean Reno & rapper LL Cool J.
When Catherine (Rene Russo) is at Martinique (France), she drapes a white towel around her breasts... and when she "lassos" her towel around Thomas' neck took sixteen takes to get it just right. Weights were added to the towel to get it to work correctly.
And in Rene's recent interviews on TV, many of the interviewers ask of... Thomas Crown Affair. According to Rene (Russo): "Many women ask of him (Pierce Brosnan)... what was he like? Is he cute? Is he dreamy? Yes he is. He's a good kisser. (...) For the love scenes, are always really hard! (laughs)" (see "Rene's Valentine's Day Special" post)