Pierce Brosnan shot “The Thomas Crown Affair,” a remake of the 1968 romantic thriller, at the peak of his Bondian powers.
The actor clearly wanted audiences to take him more seriously – outside roles in which he looked smashing in a tuxedo.
“Crown” did just that, even if he didn’t have to stretch too far to play a charismatic playboy who has ladies falling at his feet.
Or, in this particular case, an enchantress out to bring him to justice.
“Crown,” just released on Blu-ray, casts Brosnan as a man so rich he toys with his fellow businessmen wrestling over million dollar deals. Thomas Crown is so good, so fabulously wealthy he almost bores himself.
Perhaps that’s why he sets out to steal a famous painting out of the heavily guarded Metropolitan Museum of Art.
That elaborately staged theft brings in Catherine (Rene Russo), a walking insurance policy for companies trafficking in expensive art. She immediately susses out Thomas as the main suspect – a bit of sleuthing even Columbo would applaud – and zooms in for the kill.
Or the kiss, whichever comes first.
Their romantic chess moves deliver the kind of screen eroticism rarely seen these days, like Catherine slithering around Thomas in a barely-there gown.
Brosnan continues to mature as an actor, and one wishes the 2010 version could have coached his younger self here. It could have been an artistic choice, but we’re not convinced Thomas is enamored with Catherine. The character excels at playing it cool, but we need to see his knees buckle once or twice during their courtship.
But that might upset the “will they or won’t they” dynamic that fuelds the film’s final half hour.
“The Thomas Crown Affair” keeps the bullet points of the Steve McQueen/Faye Dunaway original in place, with all the slick updates you’d expect from a more modern film. The theft sequences are particularly sharp, even if they beggar belief.
The Blu-ray presentation is splendid – and even though the film is only 11 years old it looks like it was shot the week before last.
But those looking for juicy extras will come up empty. The Blu-ray disc offers nothing of the sort, and you have to watch the DVD disk included to see the 1968 film’s trailer and hear director John McTiernan’s audio commentary.
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