The Thomas Crown Affair

The highlight of this remake of the 1968 Steve McQueen/Faye Dunaway trifle are its two urbane burglaries, set in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Both are marvelous, inventive Rube Goldberg set pieces, with the Magritte-inspired climax, in particular, so geometrically complicated that it looks like a square dance as choreographed by Escher. In between these two highlights, as our heroes engage in some rather perfunctory feline/rodent maneuvering (and often seem like little more than obstacles blocking our view of mind-bogglingly expensive furnishings), the movie sags considerably--mostly because Pierce Brosnan, for all his considerable charm, makes Crown an impeccably tailored cipher. What little emotional steam the movie is able to build up is courtesy of Rene Russo, who perhaps should get naked onscreen a lot more often; taking her clothes off seems to loosen her up a bit, and without her armor she evinces a combination of maturity and goofiness that's surprisingly beguiling. Optional. (M. D'Angelo)[Blu-ray Review—Apr. 27, 2010—MGM, 113 min., R, $24.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1999's The Thomas Crown Affair sports a good transfer with DTS-HD 5.1 sound. While there are no special features on the Blu-ray disc, a DVD copy of the film is also included with audio commentary by director John McTiernan. Bottom line: an unremarkable Blu-ray debut for a so-so remake.]