Rene Russo: Not Only Her Latest 'Affair'

The Thomas Crown Affair is an action film about a man who has everything and can get anything he wants, even women. Feeling a lack of challenge in his life, Thomas Crown takes up a hobby stealing priceless masterpieces of art. Catherine Banning (Rene Russo) is the woman investigating one of his crimes. As a result of her probing, Banning gets involved too deep and falls in love with her suspect.

This is not the first film in which Rene Russo plays a beautiful, strong woman. Her appearances in films have been few, but each powerful. In 1995, Russo turned up in Get Shorty as Karen Flores, a scream-queen movie star in Hollywood. She stars alongside John Travolta in this film about a mobster in Hollywood who is trying to collect a gambling debt but ends up caught up in the movies, literally.

Karen: 'I'll think about it' means nothing in L.A...

Karen: Weren't you scared back there?
Chili Palmer: You bet.
Karen: You don't act like it.
Chili Palmer: Well, I was scared then, but I'm not scared now. How long do you want me to be scared?

The next year Russo made a hole in one as Kevin Costner's co-star in the romantic comedy Tin Cup. Russo plays Dr. Molly Griswold, a woman who inspires Costner's character to try to qualify for the US Open. The fact that Russo is the girlfriend of Costner's long-time rival adds to the comic element of the romance in this film.

Molly: All you have to do is walk up to this, this woman, wherever she is. Look her in the eye-look at me Roy-just look her in the eyes, that's right. Let down your guard and don't try to be cool or smooth or whatever. Just be honest and take a risk. And you know what, whatever happens, if you act from the heart you can't make a mistake.
Roy: Dr. Griswold...
Molly: Yes?
Roy: I think I'm in love with you.
Molly: What?
Roy: From the moment I first saw you, I knew I was through with bar girls and strippers and motorcycle chicks, and...when we first started talking I was smitten with you, and I'm smitten with you more every day I think about you...

Molly: There's no such thing as semi-platonic.
Roy: Well there ought to be.

Roy: 'Not tonight' means maybe some other night?
Molly: No, I didn't mean it like that.
Roy: Maybe consciously you didn't mean it that way, but how about unconsciously? Come on, you're the expert. Did you mean it unconsciously?

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