Taglines: Crime does pay. Handsomely.
The Thomas Crown Affair movie storyline. Self-made billionaire Thomas Crown is bored of being able to buy everything he desires. Being irresistible to women, he also does not feel any challenge in that area. But there are a few things even he can’t get, therefore Thomas Crown has a seldom hobby: He steals priceless masterpieces of Art.
After the theft of a famous painting from Claude Monet, the only person suspecting Thomas Crown is Catherine Banning. Her job is to get the picture back, no matter how she accomplishes her mission. Unfortunately, Catherine gets involved too deeply with Thomas to keep a professional distance to the case. Fortunately, Thomas seems to fall for her, too.
The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1999 American heist film directed by John McTiernan. The film, starring Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo, Denis Leary, Ben Gazzara, Frankie Faison, Fritz Weaver, Charles Keating, Faye Dunaway, Mark Margolis and Michael Lombard, is a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. The film generally received positive reviews. It was a success at the box office, grossing $124 million worldwide.
About the Story
At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an attempted robbery of precious paintings fails when museum employees discover imposters posing as staff who have been smuggled in using a Trojan Horse. In all the confusion of locking down the museum and capturing the robbers, billionaire Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan) slips into an adjacent room and steals the painting of San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk by Monet.
The insurers of the $100 million artwork send investigator Catherine Banning (Rene Russo) to assist NYPD Detective Michael McCann (Denis Leary) in solving the crime. McCann is annoyed that he has a civilian involved in the investigation, but is attracted to Banning. He asks his second in command to do a background check on her and finds she is more than just a pretty face.[how?][further explanation needed]
The next morning as the police are reviewing video of the robbery, Banning shows up. They notice that the room containing the Monet couldn’t be seen on the screen. In discussing why with a museum employee, they deduce that something caused the temperature to rise in that room so the new cameras couldn’t differentiate between people and walls. She goes back to the room with Michael where she realizes that one of the benches only has two legs when in the video it had three.
They then brainstorm over what could have been in the briefcase to cause the change in temperature. Crown not only shows up to finger one of the detained robbers, but donates one of his own personal paintings that fits the same space as the Monet. After watching Crown, she looks up who has been attempting to buy Monets and finds his name on the list again and again. She convinces Michael to let her begin surveillance on him and finds that he is someone who would steal the painting not for the money, but for the excitement. After the press conference donating the new painting, Catherine attracts Crown by intimating that she knows what he did. On her way out, he asks her for a date and she accepts.
Before the date, Crown goes to see his therapist (Faye Dunaway), who notices a change in her patient. On their first date, Crown takes her to the museum and then to dinner, all while being tailed by the police. Their attraction is evident as is their intimate knowledge of each other’s background. Catherine gets her hands on his keys and has a copy made for later. When he drops her off, he reveals he knows she has no furniture in her apartment and she returns his keys without him knowing they were ever gone. They both feel a palpable change is about to occur in their lives and press on with the cat and mouse game.
The next day, she illegally enters into Thomas’ house and searches for the painting. Along with her team they search the entire house to no avail until she enters his study. She presses a button under the desk that opens a panel in the wall and finds the Monet. She triumphantly enters the police station where an expert is waiting to authenticate it. They find that it was a witty copy, painted over the kitschy Dogs Playing Cards.
Enraged, she asks where to find Crown. He is at a Black and White Ball and she crashes, interrupting a dance with his beautiful young date. She angrily tells him she doesn’t need him to lend her clues, and he responds that he can’t be arrested for a joke. After a hot dance, they kiss and end up at Crown’s home where they have sex in many rooms (and the stairs). At breakfast, his valet brings her the distinct drink she had her first day in New York, causing her to bemoan that he knew she would sleep with him (which she denied would happen on their first date).
They begin to date regularly and he even takes her to his home on a Caribbean island that he claims he’s never taken anyone to. When they arrive, both a painting and clothes that fit her exactly are there. He teases her about seeing the painting to the point that she puts it in the fire, only to find out that it wasn’t what she thought.
The next morning after a serious talk, she wakes to find him having a meeting with some serious looking men. When he finds her on the beach later, she confronts him with the knowledge that she knows he’s preparing to run. He offers her a lot of money to throw the case (yet admits no wrongdoing) and come with him. When they return, a jealous Michael confronts Catherine with pictures of Crown and what he has been doing since they returned.
At first she pretends she doesn’t care, then folds and asks to see the pictures. They are of Crown with the same beautiful young woman again. Feeling betrayed, she hands Michael pictures of the borders of the Monet, stating that they are photographed before being insured so a forgery can be discerned.
The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
Directed by: John McTiernan
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo, Denis Leary, Ben Gazzara, Frankie Faison, Fritz Weaver, Charles Keating, Faye Dunaway, Mark Margolis, Michael Lombard
Screenplay by: Leslie Dixon, Kurt Wimmer
Production Design by: Bruno Rubeo
Cinematography by: Tom Priestly
Film Editing by: John Wright
Costume Design by: Kate Harrington, Mark Zunino
Set Decoration by: Leslie E. Rollins
Art Direction by: Dennis Bradford
Music by: Bill Conti
MPAA Rating: R for some sexuality and language.
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Date: August 6, 1999
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