Wednesday, December 21, 2005

JOHN MACTIERNAN, AND A STIFF JAMES BOND
There was a time in my life when I thought that John McTiernan was the best film-maker in Hollywood. This was at about the time that I though Die Hard was the best movie ever made. It's one of the best, but not the best anymore. Anyway. After seeing The Thomas Crowne Affair- no, wait, that's not entirely right - after trying to watch the Thomas Crowne Affair and failing miserably, I have revised my opinion. At least as far as his judgment is concerned. This is a really bad movie. I mean worse than Hudson Hawk. This is the kind of movie you expect to have heard was locked up in a vault for years because studio execs were afraid to release it. It is ridiculous. Pierce Brosnan is more wooden than George Washington's teeth. Humorless, boring actor playing cartoon character, and not even a good cartoon character, a third rate comic-strip character from the 1920s. The plot for stealing the Monet is dumb, though I imagine if it was workable they would have been sued, but there is nothing here. Nobody you could ever identify with, just ridiculous imitation James Bond hijinks and would-be clever dialogue.