FILM: Thomas Crown Affair

Thomas Crown Affair, another film starring Pierce Brosnan, is much like The Matador and After the Sunset in a sense that Brosnan is sneaky, adventurous, and creative. Yes, it sounds like James Bond, back to his good old tricks, but he is no spy for a government agency. He is operating on his own, creating chaos for his own pleasure.

The film, which debuted in 1999, comes inbetween famous Bond films Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough so it only makes sense that Brosnan maintains his cool attitude in the Thomas Crown. This is what made Brosnan famous after all. Thomas Crown, along with The Matador and After the Sunset are no masterpieces. This is not an insult, they are just more playful than the Bond films. They were not created to win Grammy's or envoke sequel after sequel, they were created for pure one-time enjoyment and Brosnan fills the roles of both sides very well.

Bond plays a rich man who owns a museum in Manhattan. Suddenly, a very expensive work of art is stolen from the museum, which brings law enforcement into the picture. Enter Catherine Banning (Rene Russo) who sells insurance and happens to know a lot about detective work. It seems like every Brosnan film has a Bond girl. This is his girl.

I find it funny that the scene of the crime, and main location of the film, is a museum. A landscape for an artist. Its twists and turns are not necessarily designed to make you think, rather they are designed to let you sit back and watch things unfold. Though you might have some guesses for the ending (there are subtle clues throughout the film) it is not designed to keep you at the edge of your seat, pointing out every little detail. It is designed to keep you back in your seat, enjoying the masterpiece that he is creating, much like an art connoisseur admiring Van Gogh's Starry Night.

Sit back and enjoy the art. I sure did.