Review: ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ — Stylish but Lacking in Substance
Norman Jewison’s ’60s pop culture classic certainly looks the part, but it lacks narrative power
Most people have at least heard of The Thomas Crown Affair, whether they are familiar with the 1968 classic directed by Norman Jewison or the ’90s remake by Die Hard director John McTiernan. It is a film that is so iconic that it is practically synonymous with cinema itself — right up there with the other ’60s Hollywood classics which came to mark the end of the Golden Age of Hollywood’s studio system. The film’s lavishly stylised opening heist is as engrained into film culture as the ending of Ocean’s 11 (the original, not Soderbergh’s remake) and the likes of The Sting or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. When ’60s Hollywood comes to mind, so does Thomas Crown.
So it has always felt like a personal blindspot that I had never seen either version of the film. And given my love for ’60s cinema, it felt right to opt for the original — though I do enjoy McTiernan as a director, too, so may later see his take on The Thomas Crown Affair. With Steve McQueen (no, not the director of Hunger this time!) and Faye Dunaway leading the classy, stylish heist film, surely there was going to be plenty to love.
