The Thomas Crown Affair
dir. John McTiernan
MGM/UA

The Thomas Crown Affair tosses a poser at its viewers: How do you rectify its slick, hollow action swagger with Rene Russo’s highly emotional and revelatory performance? This is, after all, the nature of exploitation cinema — take something genuine and meaningful, like a powerful performance or serious social issue, and dress it down into an amusement park ride fueled in part by the audience’s gut emotional reaction to the subject matter.

And unless these dueling elements are somehow resolved, the result is an unbalanced film — if you were unfortunate enough to have seen it, think of how much more Charlize Theron brought to Devil’s Advocate than everyone else involved combined.

But John McTiernan, director of The Thomas Crown Affair, resolves the disparity brilliantly, and the resolution thoroughly enriches the film. Its two action set pieces are spun around Thomas Crown’s (Pierce Brosnan) theft of a Monet from a major metropolitan museum, and it’s that theft that brings insurance investigator Catherine Banning (Russo) into the fray. She throws herself into her pursuit of Crown, even attributing their fiery romantic sparks to business.

It’s that great recurring theme of the ’90s: You are your job. Thomas is his, and Catherine is certainly hers. More than other films, however, The Thomas Crown Affair raises this theme to the point of abstraction — it even does so explicitly, when Denis Leary’s weary cop tells Catherine that the NYPD won’t throw more money after the pursuit of Crown because, in the end, it’s just some paintings. For one passing moment, the movie reminds you of life’s much greater stakes. As a result, if we can allow ourselves to become dispassionate about Catherine’s completion of her job duties, we have no compunctions about letting her become involved with Crown —and, moreover, letting her become more than her job. (What perfect summer escapism.)

This thematic payoff is courtesy of Russo, whose performance (one of the year’s best) threatens to melt the celluloid. While she may unquestionably achieve such excellence again in less sexual roles, the simultaneous assertiveness and vulnerability of Catherine has forced her craft up a notch.

At first blush, you may not think McTiernan is the man to direct such a performance — he also helmed the first and third Die Hards, The Hunt for Red October, The Last Action Hero and a handful of others. And sure enough, The Thomas Crown Affair’s thefts are spectacular. But his best films also have a strong humanity; the irreplacable element of Die Hard that sets it apart from its legion wannabes is Det. John McLane’s fractuous relationship with his estranged wife, which unifies the film and adds meat to its whizbang action. (That’s the same reason that McTiernan’s second sequel is such a dud — no wife.)

The Thomas Crown Affair is puffery, but it’s dynamite puffery blessed with a recognizable human heart. It’s the kind of summer movie you wish there were more of.

— Sean Weitner (sean@flakmag.com)