L'Affaire Thomas Crown

Having just revisited this one for what seems like 10 years (oh wait, it is about ten years), the first thing that chips away at me is the overkilling of gimmicks and a need to be art for arts sake. It's such a shame because the sexual tension of the two leads coupled with a deft story should have made for a 60s masterpiece, but sadly I think Norman Jewison (Director) must have gotten carried away like a kid in a sweet shop with the tools available to him in that burgeoning part of the decade.

The use of split screens works at the start but come the end of the film one feels like they have been hit over the head with it to the point of nausea. It also takes a third of the film before Faye Dunaway's Vicky Anderson shows up, which is fine if the film was actually another 30 minutes longer, yet the film isn't any longer and so we get a forced hour of blossoming love and passion and it leaves little room for fleshing out of the characters in relation to the crime heartbeat of the film.

There is still much to enjoy here, tho, the story is very impressive and it's one that intrigues all the way to the splendid finale. McQueen & Dunaway sizzle on the screen, none more so than during a chess sequence that had me hot under the collar. Some memorable scenes such as our couple in a sand buggy disturbing flocks of birds, and the scenes in Boston are just delightful, but ultimately the film goes down as style over substance exercise, a big chance wasted, which to a McQueen fan such as myself is infuriating in the extreme. 6.5/10