THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1999 FILM)

'''The Thomas Crown Affair''' is a 1999 heist film, a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. It stars Pierce Brosnan in the title role, a self-made billionaire who steals a painting and is tracked by an insurance investigator played by Rene Russo.
The success of the film prompted a sequel to be planned for release in 2007 titled ''The Topkapi Affair'', which is also a remake—of the 1964 film ''Topkapi'' starring Melina Mercouri, Maximilian Schell, and Peter Ustinov. Both films are based on Eric Ambler's 1962 novel, ''The Light of Day''.^[1]

Contents

Plot summary

Production

Distribution

Cast

Box office

Soundtrack

Track listing

Popular Culture References

External links

References

Plot summary

Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan), a self-made billionaire, is an adventurous businessman who savors a good challenge. He crashes an expensive yacht and bets one hundred thousand dollars on a golf swing simply because he think he can channel Arnold Palmer. Crown steals a painting (San Giorgio Maggiore at dusk) by Monet valued at one hundred million dollars. The insurers of the artwork send insurance investigator Catherine Banning (Rene Russo) to assist the police in solving the crime. From the beginning, Banning suspects Crown is behind the crime. The elaborate game of cat-and-mouse that ensues gives Crown exactly what he was seeking: Banning.

Production

At first, director John McTiernan was unavailable for the project. Pierce Brosnan and the others considered several directors before returning to their original choice.^[2] McTiernan then received the script that had been created and added his own ideas to the production.^[3] Filming took place throughout New York City, including Central Park. The corporate headquarters of Lucent Technologies stood in for Crown's suite of offices. Due to it being nearly impossible to film interior scenes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the producers' request was "respectfully declined"),^[4] the production crew made their own museum on a soundstage. Artisans were hired to create a realistic look to the set.^[5] One scene was filmed in an entirely different landmark: the main research library of the New York Public Library.
The glider flying scenes were shot at Ridge Soaring Gliderport and Eagle Field in Pennsylvania, and Corning-Painted Post Airport in New York. The two glider aero-tow shots were actually taken from film shot at two different airports, with two different tow planes. The glider pilot was Thomas L. Knauff, a world record holder^[6], and a member of the U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame.^[7]The glider used in the film is a Schempp-Hirth Duo Discus. It is physically impossible to reach the front controls from the rear seat of any tandem two seater. Instead the instructor in the rear seat demonstrates to the pupil by using dual controls. Just undoing the straps would be hazardous; the pilot could be ejected by turbulence through the canopy. The rear instrument panel was removed to film the scene in the studio.

Distribution

The film was released on DVD on January 4, 2000. The DVD included a commentary with director John McTiernan.^[8] When the film later aired on TBS Superstation, the Pepsi ONE logo on the can Banning drinks was blanked out.

Cast

★ 'Pierce Brosnan' as 'Thomas Crown'

★ 'Rene Russo' as 'Catherine Olds Banning'

★ 'Denis Leary' as 'Detective Michael McCann'

★ 'Fritz Weaver' as 'John Reynolds'

★ 'Frankie Faison' as 'Detective Paretti'

★ 'Ben Gazzara' as 'Andrew Wallace'

★ 'Mark Margolis' as 'Heinrich Knutzhorn'

★ 'Esther Cañadas' as 'Anna Knutzhorn'

★ 'Faye Dunaway' as 'The Psychiatrist'
Faye Dunaway played the Catherine Banning role in the 1968 original.⁴. However, the character's name was Vicki Anderson.

Box office

The film made $69,305,181 at the U.S. box office and a further $55,000,000 in the rest of the world, making a combined box office total of $124,305,181. With a budget of $48,000,000, the film was a financial success. A sequel, ''The Topkapi Affair'', is due to be released sometime in 2007.

Soundtrack

The critically acclaimed soundtrack to the film was composed by Bill Conti and arranged by Jack Eskew. It features a variety of jazz arrangements which harken back to the time of the film's original version. In addition, the film ends with a remake of the Academy Award-winning song "Windmills of Your Mind" sung by Sting. Throughout the movie segments are used of a song by Nina Simone called "Sinnerman" (from the album ''Pastel Blues'', 1965). Mostly the non-vocal parts of the song are used (featuring hand-clapping and piano-play), but in the final scenes, where Crown successfully places the Monet back in the museum, Simone sings "''Oh sinnerman, where are you gonna run to?''"

Track listing

# Windmills of Your Mind - Sting
# Sinnerman - Nina Simone
# Everything (...Is Never Quite Enough) - Wasis Diop
# Caban La Ka Kratchie - George Fordant
# Black and White
# Never Change
# Meet Ms. Banning
# Goodnight/Breaking and Entering
# Glider pt. I
# Glider pt. II
# Cocktails
# Quick Exit

Popular Culture References

Several references are made within the film to its predecessors. For example,
when on Crown's Caribbean island (the French island of Martinique), Russo's character burns a box containing a painting, which Crown then reveals as a Renoir—-this is a nod to the inspiration behind the Thomas Crown character, the thief Tomas Van Der Heijden who stole Renoir paintings from the Louvre in 1961. Several references are made to the 1968 version of the film. One comes through the use of the song "''Windmills of Your Mind''," popularized by the earlier film. A second reference comes through the casting of Faye Dunaway as Crown's psychiatrist; in 1968, Dunaway played Catherine Banning's counterpart, insurance investigator Vicki Anderson.[4]
Another cultural reference in the film features the 1964 painting The Son of Man by
Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. It first appears when Crown and Banning tour the museum together and she remarks on it as a likeness of him. In the movie's climax, Crown plays on her expectations, dressing himself and his look-alikes as "faceless businessmen" in topcoats, derby hats, and briefcases carrying copies of the painting.
In a reference back to the Thomas Crown films, Timbaland refers to the main character Thomas Crown in Nelly Furtado's single "Promiscuous."

External links

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★

References

1. Pierce Brosnan: Thomas Crown in The Topkapi Affair
2. Brosnan uses his Bond clout to remake Thomas Crown Affair
3. Interview with John McTiernan, Director, 'The Thomas Crown Affair'
4. Art of the Con
5. Creating The World of Thomas Crown
6. Thomas Knauff
7. Hall of Fame biographies
8. DVD release details