The Thomas Crown Affair starts out extremely well, with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo playing an excellent game of cat and mouse, but peters out at the end as the affair gets too contrived.
The affair is double entendre: Thomas Crown (Brosnan) is a rich business who is tired of mergers and acquisitions. He decides to steal a $100 million Monet painting to spice up his life, but gets a bit more than he bargained for when he ends up with insurance investigator Catharine Banning (Russo) on his back. Crown falls for Banning and charms her to a point that she is ready to give up her ethics and morals just to be with him.
The initial execution of the theft, as well the ending scene involving the bowler hats, is accomplished very well. The bowler hats scene is portrayed in an extremely surreal manner as are some of the scenes involving Crown and Banning relaxing on a Caribbean island (with storm clouds approaching). The constant trust-mistrust relationship between Benning and Crown gets tiresome after a while, particularly when it becomes unnecessary. There is some chemistry between Brosnan and Russo, but I think a better choice could've been made for the female lead. Denis Leary does a fine job as the caustic police officer in charge of the investigation, but again, he gets way too mushy at the end.
The Thomas Crown Affair is a good time killer. Worth the matinee fare.