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After priming the audience for burglar/insurance investigator romances
with Entrapment,
Hollywood opened a similar story just weeks later with the remake
of the Steve McQueen/Faye Dunaway chestnut The Thomas Crown Affair.
Pierce Brosnan, the reigning James
Bond, took charge as Crown, a wealthy, successful man whose
hobby just happens to be orchestrating the burglary of a priceless
Monet from a New York art museum. With that much value at stake,
it's recovery becomes priority No. 1 for the insurance company footing
the replacement check. Rene Russo brings a considerable charm and
confidence to the character of Catherine Banning, the insurance
investigator assign to recover the missing work of art.
Unlike Entrapment though, Thomas Crown is about the people and,
more importantly, the games that they play with each other. There's
no denying that Crown is guilty of the crime he is under investigation
for, but the film instead focuses on the relationship between Crown
and Banning and their simultaneous conflict and attraction. Will
she turn him in if she gets the goods on him? Will he return the
painting to salvage his attraction for Catherine? Might the whole
thing be just a game on both sides? Those questions aren't just
mere interludes between action sequences, but the entire point of
The Thomas Crown Affair.
I have to admit, I've never seen the original film, but I can't
imagine liking it more than this one. I know, I'm opening myself
up to all kinds of criticism from people that feel the original
to be superior, and I'm sure it is every bit as good, but I had
a great time with this movie. The acting is wonderful all the way
around but especially in the case of Rene Russo, who portrays a
confidant and very sexual character unlike anything I've seen her
do before. The Thomas Crown Affair belongs to her.
The direction, from veteran action master John McTiernan, is swift
and breezy when it needs to but really cranks when required. I've
never seen a John McTiernan film I didn't like, even Medicine
Man and Last Action Hero (Editor: Stop, you're scaring me)
and he doesn't disappoint here either. If you're standing at
the rental counter and are faced with the choice between Entrapment
and The Thomas Crown Affair, go with the latter. You won't be disappointed.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
The anamorphic widescreen DVD is extremely good but has a few problems
worth noting. Colors and saturation are well rendered with no bleeding
or blooming. Black level is deep and solid with shadow detail that
comes straight through. Detail is finely resolved and creates a
fabulous overall picture that has a wonderful sense of depth. Over
edge enhancement is at a minimum for a clean, clear picture that
has very few flaws.
But there are some, mainly an ever-so-slight bit of compression
pixelation, but nothing to distract or probably to even get noticed.
The biggest downside to this picture is a more frequent shimmer
than I would have expected. There are scenes where the buildings
and greenery in the background appear unstable and distract. I also
noticed two oddities that seem out of place with the rest of the
transfer. In one shot (only one) I noticed that the fleshtone started
to wander but then corrected itself by the next shot and there also
were a few instances where there seems to be a frame missing and
causes the picture to jump. Both of these might be inherent to the
print and not the transfer and are so fleeting I almost didn't even
bring them up.
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is very effective and a notch or two
above others in this genre. Most of the film is dialog driven and
mono in nature yet the soundfield expands to include all five of
the main channels realistically. The dialog is perfectly presented
without distortion or masking. Stereo effects and music compile
the rest of the channels with a background presence that never overwhelms
the story. Surround use is frequent and discrete even when used
with the music score. There's very few instances of the need for
any bass but a few segments make use of the sub, although never
getting down low enough to rattle anything. I give high marks to
The Thomas Crown Affair's sound team for a sound experience that
is more than I was expecting it to be.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There? For the first time ever, director John McTiernan has sat down to
record a running audio commentary for one of his films. His
comments are well organized and presented, although he does laps
into silence a few times, and some may find his rather monotone
delivery to teeter on boredom. I didn't and would love to hear him
sit down and give thoughts on the making of his two Die Hard pictures
or The Hunt for Red October, but unless he insists to Fox and Paramount
that he wants to do it, I doubt it'll ever come to pass. Anyuway,
this is a nice start though.
The original theatrical trailer is also provided in anamorphic
widescreen with 2.0 stereo with the trailer for the 1968 original
in non-anamorphic widescreen/mono, and a booklet with some
production notes is included in the keepcase.
Parting Thoughts
With The Thomas Crown Affair, the movie is definitely where it's
at. Great audio and good video provide a fine presentation of such
a good film. In the supplement department, it's betters most releases
and the chance to finally hear McTiernan speak for an extended period
of time is certainly worth it for me. Recommended.
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