The flamboyance, lust and excitement are born again in the remake of 1968 classic "The Thomas Crown Affair".

Pierce Brosnan stars as bored millionaire playboy Thomas Crown who loves to steal for the sake of the game until he locks horns with luscious insurance investigator Rene Russo.

Die Hard director John McTiernan revisits some of the same shooting locales of the original and recaptures the subtle grace of his two stars which in turn echo the legendary chemistry of Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. The cat and mouse game between Brosnan and Russo heats up to a new level in this remake as McTiernan brings us a long 15 minute love escapade full of shots of the couple's naked bodies. What's great about this remake has to be the sultry Russo who steals this movie from Brosnan and takes her acting to a new level. In some scenes she looks is heavily made up that you wonder why they covered up her natural beauty. Russo has the ability to seduce a man with a look and they didn't need the make-up to accent anything. As for Brosnan, he can never quite climb out of the shadow of the original portrayal of Thomas Crown which was subtle, laid back and was perfectly laid out for the brilliance of Steve McQueen. Another thing I remember from the original was the very dramatic 1960's score. A landmark in its day, the score was so moving and brilliant that it was almost the entire film itself. In the remake, the music is of our generation but sets the same mood and brilliance as the 1960's score did in the original.

(4 of 5) So Says the Soothsayer.