DoctorINparadise says > I have to say that Crown fits Brosnan better then Mcqueen… I also think that the Thomas Crown character is the perfect macho ever created on film…
McQueen and Brosnan are very different people and as actors, each brings something different to the role. I think that makes both well-suited to play the Thomas Crown in their particular version of the movie. The name is the same but the character, as I see it, is distinctly different in each version. They have different priorities; different motivations.
In the second version, Crown is older, wiser, more mature, and is in the process of examining his life. He's ready to make a change and has finally found someone with whom he's very compatible on many levels. It makes perfectly good sense that he would not want to throw that away. McQueen’s Crown is still more of a playboy who’s looking out for himself; looking to have fun.
Can't a man be a man anymore?I
Brosnan's Crown is no less a man because he’s sensitive to someone else’s needs and is choosing to share his life rather than continue to go it alone. Clearly he’s realized one can ‘have it all’ and still not have much of anything. Accumulating wealth and having toys may be enough for some people but it takes a very strong man to accept his need to be vulnerable and not have to wear a façade if that’s no longer how he feels or who he is.
even if you don't mind the character, Russo just doesn't fit the movie, she is too old or too clumsy looking for this, she just doesn't have the look of a confident woman
Just as the Crown character is different in each version, so too is the female lead character. This, I believe, is why she has a completely different name. She’s not meant to be an update of Vicki. I think the fact they used an older actress makes complete sense. Crown is the prototypical man who chases younger women. Brosnan’s Crown apparently has done that; he’s tried the arm candy thing and that has apparently not worked; he’s alone.
He needs a woman who is in the same place in life he’s in; an equal; someone who won't defer to him. Catherine can go toe-to-toe with him and that's what he needs in order to not get bored and vice versa. They're both strong and would walk all over someone who's not. They both have trust issues because they've been burned. Still, they know trust is earned and developed over time.
Rene’s character is accomplished, successful, intelligent, and is not looking but has found a much deeper connection with someone than she's had. She is the female version of Crown. They don’t need to just be with someone for the sake of being with someone, it has to matter. They’ve both reached a point most people do not reach until they’re older and have had enough life experiences to know who they really are and what they really want.
Rene is perfect in the role. She plays it with the right amount of strength and vulnerability. She’s able to show that the internal struggle she’s having within herself is as strong as the one she’s having with him. She and Crown both have a lot more at stake; more to lose, than the characters in the first version. If they make a mistake there may be fewer opportunities still to come for a connection like the one they have.
the girl betrayed him... they should have left it like in the original
As Crown tells Catherine at one point, he wouldn't want it any other way. I think it's important that she not lose herself to be with him and vice versa. They meet and fall in love because of who they are. While they will have to make concessions, compromises, and adjustments to be together, they cannot completely abandon who they are; their values; even for each other. That would not work. This is why in the end we see he did not return the painting 'for her'. It was already there and she's not willing to let him get away with anything just because of her feelings for him. When she does go to him, he leaves the second painting for her and she returns it. They're not going on the run as his life of crime would dictate. If they were, she couldn't be with him.
reply
share