Movie Night: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968).

Review #691: The Thomas Crown Affair.

Cast
Steve McQueen (Thomas Crown), Faye Dunaway (Vicki Anderson), Paul Burke (Detective Eddie Malone), Jack Weston (Erwin Weaver), Gordon Pinsent (Jamie McDonald), Biff McGuire (Sandy), and Yaphet Kotto (Carl) Directed by Norman Jewison (#127 - Rollerball, #273 - The Cincinnati Kid, and #544 - In the Heat of the Night)

Review
In a way, this is a movie made for technical buffs. The movie's use of split screen to show multiple images at the same time was inspire by the Multi-dynamic image technique, originally used for the short film A Place to Stand at the Expo 67 in Montreal. Jewison uses this technique throughout the movie, starting with the opening credits and ending with the ending credits. My favorite use is during the robbery sequence, showing the different points of view which helps tell the story for different points, which is neat. The movie is well photographed, and is pretty to look at. The movie, however tires to be a thriller and a romance movie. Whether it succeeds at both is up to you. For me, it's a marginally successful attempt, that starts to feel slow around the middle, though the ending of the movie is a good twist. "The Windmills of Your Mind" is a song used to great effect, it's a really strange but somehow perfect song for a movie such as this. McQueen and Dunaway have good chemistry together, and the chess scene between them is nice to watch. This is a passable movie that looks nice, has a rough interior, but manages to have a cult following of its own. Judge for yourself.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.