I laughed out loud this morning. The tv was on, and the ad for
the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair blares "From the
director of Die Hard . . . Trucks, trucks trucks! More monster
trucks!!!!!"
Well, I saw it, and it is okay, but it is no action-thriller. It
is about a well-coiffed rich boy (Pierce Brosnan) who is
investigated by insurance woman Renee' Russo and NYPD's Denis
Leary for art theft. Leary develops a crush on Russo, and, to
hammer home the fact that there is no justice in this world,
Russo falls for Brosnan. He is rich. They play the game, as rich
people do. Much of the film - excepting well-plotted opening and
closing theft numbers - is a Chanel commerical or a Conde' Nast
video. And the love scene is laughingly similar to some high-end
porno I accidentally rented when, in fact, I was looking for
amateur stuff.
The film falls with Brosnan, a George Lazenby of the 90s.
Television was too penetrating for this guy. Bond is too multi-faceted
for the likes of him. His range of emotions is pensive,
determined, and then smirky. That's it. He's porridge.
Russo is a little better, and she is naked a good deal of the
film. Still, she is twisted in knots by dear old Pierce, to the
point where feminists may very well start burning undergarments
again (thankfully, Ms. Russo does not wear such things throughout
the film).
Leary is surprisingly restrained and gives the best performance
of the film.
A solid C.
