THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR: Blu-ray (G2 Productions 1999) MGM Home Video

Pierce Brosnan was to capitalize on his newfound fame as a big-time movie star in the mid-1990’s with a spate of actioners removed from the James Bond franchise. We really have to pity Brosnan a little here; denied his moment in the sun by execs at NBC back in the days when his runaway TV series, Remington Steele (1982-87) was still pulling in 25% of the viewing audience in the Nielsen ratings. Details remain sketchy as to what exactly prompted NBC to pull the plug on such a high-profile, and highly successful franchise. Although the ‘official’ cause was Brandon Tartikoff’s desire to give an early pick-up to Stephen J. Cannell’s Hunter (1984-91), rumors persist - the real reason Tartikoff’s nose went out of joint was Brosnan’s desire to sign on to the James Bond franchise after Roger Moore’s retirement in 1985. It could have worked. Certainly, Bond producer, Cubby R. Broccoli was ready to make it work. Not so much on Tartikoff’s end; delaying approval just long enough to necessitate Broccoli having to move on in his selection process to meet his pending release date. Tartikoff then, inexplicably, pulled the plug on Remington Steele – though, to hold Brosnan to his ironclad contract, and thus preventing the actor from appearing anywhere, except in Bond knock-off Diet Coke commercials from 1987 to 1995. But then, this indentured servitude to NBC ended with a lack-luster wrap up of the series, and Brosnan - free at last - pursued Bond, marking his debut as England’s suave super-agent in 1995’s Goldeneye – and other projects to make up for lost time.

On the surface, John McTiernan’s remake of The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) probably looked like a surefire gig. Norman Jewison’s original, made in 1968, had taken a rather pallid crime caper and immensely glammed things up with tangible sexual chemistry in this game of cat and mouse between its two stars; the uber-cool, Steve McQueen and ultra-slinky Faye Dunaway. Alas, in updating the story from bank heist to theft of some priceless art, something was decidedly lost in translation, and gone – almost in its entirety – was that elusive spark of danger and sex with a decidedly ‘improper’ stranger that had made the original a bizarre, but engrossing good kink and a real/reel kick in the head. On this outing, Brosnan’s Thomas Crown is pitted against Rene Russo as insurance fraud investigator, Catherine Banning. Dunaway returns too – in the newly created role as Crown’s all-knowing sex therapist, with Denis Leary coming up from behind as Banning’s cohort, Michael McCann, who can clearly see Cate’s looming crush is getting in the way of her abilities to do quality investigative work.  As with the original tale, on this reboot, sultry and globe-trotting flagrante delictos increasingly put each character into an impossible situation where Crown’s initial ‘winner takes all’ philosophy threatens the illusion of love at any and all costs. Unlike the 1968 flick, this one ended happily ever after – well, sort of.  In 1968, Dunaway’s decision to remain true to her calling as a private investigator cost her the passion and prestige of belonging to the only man she ever truly loved. In 1999, such ambiguity would not do.

Nevertheless, the McTiernan’s reboot is a strangely leaden excursion into what makes a billionaire businessman with a fetish for fine art tick. Thomas Crown can legitimately have anything he wants. But that’s not the point. What matters more to Crown than complacency with his bottomless wealth is the art of the big swindle – literally. To steal is a thrill. To get away with it, even more exhilarating. It makes him feel alive. After arranging to have his own painting stolen from New York’s Metropolitan Art Gallery, and frame the men he personally hired for the heist, while getting away with the priceless pic, Crown comes under scrutiny from speculating police detective, Michael McCann and insurance investigator, Catherine Banning. McCann suspects foul play. So, does Banning. But she ends her search for the truth by getting much too up close and personal with the man who may be on the cusp of indictment for insurance fraud. Catherine and Crown begin their adulterous affair of the sweaty hot-blooded, all-consuming and obsessive/compulsive variety (think Fatal Attraction without the bunny and Brosnan as our ‘homme fatale’). Catherine's clinical sleuth melts as Crown ignites her senses with erotic rendezvous at some of his more 'out of the way' retreats. It's a backstage pass for Catherine - a chance to enter the world of a marginally disturbed thrill seeker who has every intention of leaving her flat and unfulfilled in the final reel. Yet, here is the gracious whim of fate – or rather, overwrought movie-land cliché. Crown has also decided Cate's the gal for him. After seemingly disappearing into thin air, Crown inexplicably turns up in the seat next to her on a plane bound for the tropics.

Thanks to Tom Priestley Jr.’s lush cinematography, The Thomas Crown Affair is a fairly stylish and slickly packaged entertainment. Jewison’s original classic was instantly identified with Noel Harrison’s stirring rendition of the haunting ballad, The Windmills of Your Mind. The remake has a score by TV maestro extraordinaire, Bill Conti that, in no way is as iconic. As if knowing his picture is in trouble, McTiernan tacks on a thoroughly forgettable cover of Harrison’s anthem; this time, sung with ennui-saturated nothingness by Sting, forgettable playing over the picture’s end titles. Visually, this reboot of The Thomas Crown Affair is decidedly a winner. From a narrative perspective, the movie is on much shakier ground. In ’68, McQueen’s Crown cruelly masterminded the bank job right under the nose of sultry insurance femme fatale, Vicki Anderson (Faye Dunaway), unfeeling to leave her brooding and pouting in the end. For McQueen’s Crown, the thrill was an intellectual pursuit with McQueen in full-on male ego overdrive; an anti-hero we hated to love – but did. Brosnan’s Crown is a very different animal. There is no intellectual stimulation here; just an adrenaline junkie’s rush for that visceral exhilaration that can only momentarily satisfy by jolting him from his daily boredom.

What is particularly disappointing about McTiernan’s remake is how passion-less the affair, at the center of this story, remains. Russo is a stick figure – all sass, but with no soul. Bronson’s butch billionaire is too into himself to care about what happens to his paramour du jour. So, the tacked on ‘happily ever after’ or – at least, for the moment – is not only a shay premature, but thoroughly, not in keeping with his character. McTiernan artfully shoots the seduction and a few body-steaming sex scenes, done mostly in half shadow, in varying stages of undress. In the end, what we get from this ‘affair’ is a stylish semi-complex thriller where the manipulation of sexual attachments becomes the central focus. If only Russo and Brosnan had been able to convince us they were hot for each other, then this remake might have at least worked on that level. It doesn't. Leslie Dixon and Kurt Wimmer's screenplay gets bogged down in the cleverness of Crown's art house caper. The film shifts focus back and forth from Catherine discovering Crown's fraud to what will happen to Catherine after Crown is done ravaging, both her body and her career. In the end, The Thomas Crown Affair never lives up to our expectations. Want a stylish and sexy thrill ride. See, the original. Skip the reboot.

MGM/Fox Home Video’s Blu-ray is impressive. We get a very clean and solid 1080p presentation. Colors pop. Fine detail abounds. Contrast levels are bang on. Film grain has been accurately reproduced. Good stuff here and quite unexpected given Fox's spotty record for mastering vintage titles in hi-def. The audio is 5.1 DTS and quite aggressive at times. Good spatial spread. Fox is up to their old tricks again. No extras on the Blu-ray but we get a DVD copy of the movie that does have an audio commentary from the director. Question: who wants to waste their time watching a standard def DVD just to hear McTiernan's thoughts on the making of the film? Enough said. Bottom line: pass, and be glad that you did.

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

2.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

4

EXTRAS

0