The original Thomas Crown Affair directed by Norman Jewison was praised in its day as stylish and ahead of its times. On a second view, this is far from the truth. The film is a pretext to show Faye Dunaway in about 30 costume changes and little else of substance.
Steve McQueen was a strange bird indeed. As an actor he is always the same. Watch him in this film, or Bullit, or any other of his movies, and you'll see him do the same expressions and pretending to be cool all the time, something that in real life, he was not. Steve McQueen was the product of Hollywood. He was more of a presence than a convincing actor who can make the viewer believe he is seeing that character he is portraying come true.
On the other hand, Faye Dunaway went from modeling to acting, and she could act, but not in the way the director instructed her what to do in this film. Faye Dunaway is a beautiful woman who at that point in her career cut quite a figure. Unfortunately, her Vicki Anderson is all phony and mannered.
Even the title song is sung badly within the movie. Michel Legrand needed someone else to sing it to do justice to it. Frankly, this film would have died at the box office if it were released today!
Steve McQueen was a strange bird indeed. As an actor he is always the same. Watch him in this film, or Bullit, or any other of his movies, and you'll see him do the same expressions and pretending to be cool all the time, something that in real life, he was not. Steve McQueen was the product of Hollywood. He was more of a presence than a convincing actor who can make the viewer believe he is seeing that character he is portraying come true.
On the other hand, Faye Dunaway went from modeling to acting, and she could act, but not in the way the director instructed her what to do in this film. Faye Dunaway is a beautiful woman who at that point in her career cut quite a figure. Unfortunately, her Vicki Anderson is all phony and mannered.
Even the title song is sung badly within the movie. Michel Legrand needed someone else to sing it to do justice to it. Frankly, this film would have died at the box office if it were released today!