Pierce Brosnan is the man. On screen, he manages to project an icy cool confidence that few posses. He knows he's in control. Watching him manipulate everything around him with such self-assuredness is one of the few fun things about The Thomas Crown Affair.

Brosnan once again plays a guy every woman wants and every guy wants to be. This time his romantic vocation is not super spy, instead he's an art thief. Not that he has to steal. His Thomas Crown is also a billionaire businessman by day, specializing in mergers and acquisitions. We're never exactly told why he steals, but it's strongly hinted that he does it simply because he's bored.

Rene Russo plays the insurance investigator who's hot on his tail. A Monet is stolen from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Russo quickly figures out that Crown did it. But as she confronts the culprit, sparks fly between the pair. The big question quickly becomes whether career woman Russo will do her job and bring Crown to justice, or whether she'll fall for the guy and run off with him. Typical of most post-feminist '90s films, the outcome is never in doubt -- she's Crown's -- hook, line and sinker.

There are few thrills in this thriller, though director John McTiernan (Die Hard) does stage one masterful set piece late in the film involving Crown lookalikes running around the museum, foiling police. But the lack of action and tension doesn't mean the film is a labor to watch. Brosnan and Russo have strong chemistry and the sex scenes between them are surprisingly erotic (Russo shows off a body that looks incredible for her age). The rest of the film which takes us on Crown's sailboat, in his glider, in his jet and to his mountaintop hideaway in the islands -- plays like an excellent advertisement for being extremely wealthy. Bill Conti's jazzy piano score also help lend the film a very elegant tone.

But the movie is ultimately dull and preposterous. The Thomas Crown Affair does come off as a better version of this summer's Entrapment, starring another famous 007, Sean Connery. While Crown is an improvement on that other heist film, those looking for a better take on the cop falls for crook concept should check out last year's superior Out of Sight.

(c) Copyright 1999