The Thomas Crown Affair (1999 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the 1968 original film, see The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film).
| The Thomas Crown Affair | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover for the 1999 version of The Thomas Crown Affair |
|
| Directed by | John McTiernan |
| Produced by | Michael Tadross Pierce Brosnan Beau St. Clair |
| Written by | Alan Trustman Leslie Dixon Kurt Wimmer |
| Starring | Pierce Brosnan Rene Russo Denis Leary |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | July 27, 1999 |
| Running time | 113 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $48,000,000 (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1999 English language film, a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. It stars Pierce Brosnan as Thomas Crown, 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 novel, The Light of Day.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Thomas Crown, a self-made billionaire, is an adventurous businessman who savors a good challenge. Crown can get almost anything he wants without challenge: material items, women, etc. He crashes an expensive yacht and bets one hundred thousand dollars on a golf swing simply because he can. In a change from the 1968 film, Crown steals a painting by Monet valued at one hundred million dollars. The insurers of the artwork unleash insurance investigator Catherine Banning to assist the police in solving the crime. From the beginning, Banning suspects Crown is behind the heist. The elaborate game of cat-and-mouse that ensues gives Crown exactly what he was seeking: a challenge.
[edit] Cast and characters
- Thomas Crown - Pierce Brosnan
- Catherine Olds Banning - Rene Russo
- Detective Michael McCann - Denis Leary
- John Reynolds - Fritz Weaver
- Detective Paretti - Frankie Faison
- Andrew Wallace - Ben Gazzara
- Heinrich Knutzhorn - Mark Margolis
- Anna Knutzhorn - Esther Cañadas
- The Psychiatrist - Faye Dunaway (A role created specifically for her.)
[edit] Crew
- Directed by: John McTiernan
- Written by: Alan Trustman
- Screenplay by: Leslie Dixon, Kurt Wimmer
- Produced by: Michael Tadross, Pierce Brosnan, Beau St. Clair, Bruce Moriarty, Roger Paradiso
- Production Company: United Artists/Irish DreamTime
- Distributed by: MGM
[edit] 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. Which with a budget of $48,000,000 made this a success prompting a sequel The Topkapi Affair due to be released sometime in 2007.
[edit] Soundtrack
The critically acclaimed soundtrack to this 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 Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan) succesfully places the Monet back in the museum, we can also hear Simone sing ("oh sinnerman, where are you gonna run to", very appropriately).
[edit] Trivia
- 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.
- 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[1], and a member of the U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame [2]
- Part of the film was shot at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY.
- The $100 million painting featured in the film is San Giorgio Maggiore at dusk by Claude Monet
- Faye Dunaway, who played the Psychiatrist in this film, played a main character in the 1968-release of The Thomas Crown Affair
- The painting that is seen several times in the film depicting a man in a suit with an apple covering his face is "Son of Man," by Rene Magritte.
- Although the film takes place in Manhattan, the museum that the action revolves around is actually The Art Institute of Chicago. Most of the paintings featured in the film are actually on display there.
- Allegedly, due to Brosnan's James Bond contract, he could not wear a tuxedo in any non-Bond film. Therefore, in this film, he wears his tie undone--therefore, he is not wearing a tuxedo. For the same reason he wears a watch with a leather band, rather than a metal band watch, typically worn by James Bond.
- When aired on the TBS Superstation, the Pepsi ONE logo on the can of pop Banning drinks in the police station is blanked out.
