The Best Heist Movie Of The 90s Turns James Bond Into A Master Criminal, Watch Without Netflix
A great heist film is hard to pull off, but years before the Ocean’s 11 remake redefined the genre, The Thomas Crown Affair ignited movie theaters with a smart, sophisticated heist that took a back seat to the sizzling chemistry of the two leads. At the height of his popularity as James Bond, Pierce Brosnan was never better than he is here, as bored billionaire playboy Thomas Crown. Not only is it a fantastic heist film, but it is also one of the greatest remakes of all time, and it makes a case for why some movies should be remade every generation.
Rich And Bored
The Thomas Crown Affair kicks off with an actual Trojan Horse unloading thieves into an art museum, and while they don’t make it back out, a priceless Monet goes missing during the confusion. The culprit is Thomas Crown, a very rich, very bored man looking for a thrill in his life by stealing art. On the hunt for Crown is Catherine Banning, an insurance investigator, played by Rene Russo in what might be her greatest performance.
Cat And Mouse
Banning is smart, attentive, and stunningly gorgeous, so she gets the attention of Crown, and that starts a game of cat-and-mouse between the two as they try to outmaneuver the other. In between heated confrontations and misdirections, the two start a love affair, leading to Banning working both sides of the crime until she’s finally forced to choose between what’s legally right and her new love for Crown. The Thomas Crown Affair manages to bounce effortlessly between two of the greatest heist scenes in Hollywood history, backstab and double-crosses, and a titillating, age-appropriate romance.
Remaking A Classic
The original 1969 version starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway even gets a little shout-out, with Dunaway appearing as Crown’s psychiatrist. What the 1999 version of The Thomas Crown Affair does to update and improve the original is making Crown more clearly into an anti-hero, doing away with the armed robbery, and turning into an elaborate art heist instead. The relationship between Crown and Banning also ends differently in the remake, and I think it’s a much more satisfying and poetic ending the second time around.
Sinnerman Is The Recipe For Success
The Thomas Crown Affair was a hit in theaters, bringing in over $120 million against a budget of $48 million. This furthers my theory that any film using Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman” is going to be a success. It was also a welcome hit for director John McTiernan, who went far from his usual action wheelhouse of Die Hard and Predator to bring a sleek and stylish thriller to life.
The Best Heist Movie Streaming For Free
REVIEW SCORE
I was expecting The Thomas Crown Affair to be a slow-burn character drama when I fired it up, but I was blown away by Pierce Brosnan being more sauce and sophisticated than he ever was as James Bond. I especially wasn’t expecting Rene Russo, whom I had last seen in Nightcrawler, to match him, beat for beat, not only holding her own as the co-lead but making me wonder why she didn’t become the biggest female star of the ’00s.
For anyone bored of the usual Ocean’s 11 comedy-heist films of the last few decades, enjoy The Thomas Crown Affair for free on Tubi, Hoopla, and The Roku Channel.
