03.08
One of the “old movie” stations (TCM – Turner Classic Movies ?) was showing “The Thomas Crown Affair” – the Steve McQueen version. First time I’ve seen it. The newer version with Pierce Brosnan isn’t a bad “caper” movie. Nice light entertainment.
I was expecting a lot more from the McQueen version, otherwise why would they have remade it ? It wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Of course, that could have been partly due to the “edited for television” look.
I’m not a big McQueen fan. Too “60′s/70′s macho”. I prefer John Wayne and Clint Eastwood style “Western macho” in my 60′s/70′s action movies. And of course, Sean Connery is The True Bond. Doesn’t seem much choice for 80′s/90′s action macho with the exception of Harrison Ford.
And none of them are “hard edged urban jungle” like McQueen.
But a lot of movies from that time period had that vibe. Unlike the 90′s+ “gloss”. So how do the two movies stack up ? Based on dim memories of the newer one:
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Old | New |  |
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Actor | Steve McQueen | Pierce Brosnan | |
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occupation | Banker | rich playboy | |
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plot | Somebody robs a bank | Somebody robs an art museum | |
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protaganist | Faye Dunaway | Rene Russo | |
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end of movie | He robs another bank | He returns painting | |
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attitude | hard/cruel | sophisticated | |
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- The photography in the original shows signs of someone trying to be too clever while the newer version is straight forward.
- The music in the original doesn’t contribute to the story. Can’t remember how well it works in the newer one but it wasn’t distracting.
Would I watch the original (if it really was the original version) again ? Not if I have a choice. The newer one ? Possibly. Depends. I’m going to have to watch the newer one again.
Ahh, trivia – Faye Dunaway was in both movies.
