(Go grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrls!)
CAST: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Christopher McDonald, Jason Beghe, Timothy Carhart, Brad Pitt, Lucinda Jenney, Stephen Tobolowsky.
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and some very welcome Girl Power shenanigans - straight ahead…
I’ll say it upfront: THELMA & LOUISE is one of my favorite movies. So much so that I’ve named pets after the titular characters. Yup, when I was meandering my way through college back in Michigan, I bought a couple of piranhas and christened them… well, you know. Anyhow, Thelma eventually ate Louise (or was it the other way around?) when I forgot to feed them during a particularly busy finals week. And Thelma? Well, let’s just say there might be a giant piranha roaming the sewers of Big Rapids, Michigan even as I type this. Let’s leave it at that. Ahem.
Anyhow, the main reason I love THELMA & LOUISE is because of Thelma and Louise, themselves. The characters, not the piranhas. These are two very well-drawn female roles: complex, human, flawed, sympathetic, relatable, quirky, heroic, subversive, tragic. What’s even more remarkable is that these roles are not the kind usually portrayed by women onscreen - at least before this movie came out. Just as with director Ridley Scott’s other female-centric classic, ALIEN (1979 - review # 24), a traditionally-male role is essayed by a woman - and does wonders with it. Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley was originally written for a man until casting began, but Weaver turned it into the role of a lifetime. And THELMA & LOUISE has two of them, to boot.
Our story starts out with our two heroines getting ready to skedaddle out of town on a weekend fishing trip. Thelma Dickinson (Geena Davis) is a put-upon housewife so good-natured that she is oblivious to the fact that she’s married to the Grand High Asshole of The Universe, who has an Earth name of Daryl (Christopher McDonald). It’s a testament to Thelma’s generous and giving nature that she doesn’t, you know, smash Daryl’s face in with a cast-iron skillet like Jennifer Beals did with Christopher Cousins in THE GRUDGE 2. I guess housewives were more patient in the early-90’s.
Meanwhile, while Thelma is serving up breakfast to a colossal dickhead who clearly doesn’t deserve it, our other heroine is doing prep work of her own. Louise Sawyer (Susan Sarandon) is a diner waitress just finishing up a long shift. In contrast to the more scattered Thelma, Louise likes things to be just-so, as evidenced by: (1) her tidily pulled-up hair, (2) spotless kitchen, and (3) eagle eye on the clock. Sure enough, as soon as Daryl-the-dickhead packs up and goes to work, Louise swoops in and picks up Thelma for their “Girls Gone Wild” weekend. And that is a more prescient description than you realize.
Being on the road has a liberating effect on the normally laid-back Thelma that unnerves Louise just a bit. But, wanting to be a good friend, she agrees to indulge Thelma by stopping for some eats and booze at a roadside watering hole. There, Thelma and Louise’s dinner is interrupted by the attentions of local bad boy Harlan (Timothy Carhart), who comes on to the former with the subtlety of an anvil being shot out of a cannon. Thelma, being somewhat sheltered, basically falls for his charms - which on the Dickhead Meter roughly equal Daryl‘s. Louise, being somewhat intelligent, correctly pegs Harlan as Major Bad News.
Try telling that to Thelma, though… Because, before you know it, our giggly housewife is suddenly alternating line-dancing with Harlan - and slamming back shots of Wild Turkey. Soon enough, all that unchecked boozing makes Thelma woozy and gives sleazebag Harlan the opening he needs: he tells her that she “needs air” and “should go outside.” No, dude. She needs a can of Mace - a big one. And you need to go to hell.
Anyhow, as you can imagine, a drunken woman plus a predatory sleazebag plus a deserted parking lot equals baaaaaaad juju, folks. Harlan basically tries to force himself on dear Thelma. Fortunately, Louise spots them, remembers the gun that Thelma brought with them to ward off “Psycho Killers,” and jams it in Harlan’s neck. This has the unsurprising effect of shutting down his libido.
But not his mouth, though, because as soon as Thelma scurries away to stand behind the gun-toting Louise, our dear troglodyte Harlan politely tells them to (and I’m quoting here), “Suck. My. Dick.” Now, I’ve actually had this witty insult hurled at me a few times in my life, and have usually responded with something like, “Not even if you actually had one to suck, dude.” Our Louise is a different beast, though. Nope, she just blasts the fucker in the chest with her gun and calls it a day. I feel downright old-fashioned, in comparison.
This is when THELMA & LOUISE takes a sharp turn into darker territory. Panicking, our ladies hightail it out of the parking lot. Thelma insists that they go to the police. Louise, on the other hand, realizes that about half-a-million people at the bar saw Thelma basically rubbing up on Harlan like he was a human stripper pole - and any “he-tried-to-assault-me-really-he-did” claims will likely be met with “was-that-before-or-after-you-unzipped-his-pants-and-took-his-dick-out-for-him” responses. In other words, Louise has seen THE ACCUSED, and knows how that shit goes down.
Long story short, Thelma and Louise go on the lam - and race for the Mexican border. But with the police and FBI on their tail, will they get very far? Will Louise succumb to the pleas of the good cop on the case (Harvey Keitel)? What about her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Jimmy (Michael Madsen)? Will he help them raise cash for their escape? Can he be trusted? What about the hot boy-toy hitcher (Brad Pitt) that they pick up? Will Thelma’s naivete get the better of her again? And what happens when the ladies graduate to robbing markets to further support their “South of the Border” permanent vacation?
Only one way to find out - watch the movie. And if you’re a man, let this movie be a lesson on how not to treat a woman who has had ten too many shots of Wild Turkey. In other words, be a gentleman. You have been warned.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: Few movies have caused the stir that THELMA & LOUISE triggered when it was released in 1991. It actually performed only modestly at the box-office during its original theatrical run. But its influence cannot be measured by mere ticket sales alone. Rather, we have to look at just how deep this film has penetrated not just pop culture - but also the psyches of several generations of successive movie-goers who have seen it. Even now, the reverberations of THELMA & LOUISE can still be felt.
Not sure why having two normal women become fugitives was so controversial at the time. Perhaps it was because Thelma Dickinson and Louise Sawyer were not portrayed as cartoonish assassins (a la the Bond movies) or larger-than-life heroines (Ripley from ALIEN and ALIENS). Maybe what was so remarkable was the fact they were shown to be ordinary women whose hands were initially forced by some unfortunate circumstances (and unworthy men) - and who ultimately refused to knuckle under once they charted their course. Perhaps the idea of women not giving in to the male-driven forces around them was still an incendiary idea, even in the early 90’s. If that’s the case, what a shame.
Another accusation leveled against this film that I remember reading, is that the male characters are generally ineffective and portrayed in a negative light. I find this to be short-sighted and too convenient. Yes, Daryl is generally portrayed an unlikable jerk - but even he is given something approaching nuance with a single shot of him crying furiously as he watches TV footage of the cops closing in on Thelma & Louise. In my mind, this elegant and non-verbal strategy helps redeem him, somewhat. Also, while both Harlan and Brad Pitt’s J.T. essentially prey on Thelma and Louise in overt and covert ways, I argue that these roles were indeed meant to be negative - to show what kind of obstacles the women had to constantly face.
The biggest counter to the argument that the men of THELMA & LOUISE are not as noble and heroic as its lead women are the characters played by Harvey Keitel and Michael Madsen. Both of these roles are layered, sympathetic, and positive. Hal is torn between his duty and his growing kinship with Louise, and Keitel brilliantly shows this. That last scene of him running after the fleeing car is just… heartbreaking.
Meanwhile, Jimmy’s plot thread with Louise is thick with unspoken emotion and bittersweet atmosphere. Clearly, what we see between them is just the tip of a very complex relationship. We shouldn’t mistake his acquiescence to Louise’s pleas for help as passive obedience. Rather, what I see is someone who has probably let down Louise several times in the past - and helping her with the money is his chance to not only redeem himself, but also to support her when it really, truly counts. Madsen is great in the role - and he makes his role seem and feel a lot bigger than it is.
But, even with all the above, make no mistake: this movie belongs to the women. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon are, in a word, magnificent. Taking two full-bodied, dimensional characters and basically going the distance with them, these actresses deliver performances that are quite unforgettable. Davis and Sarandon are two of the most beautiful women in Hollywood - if not the world - but they manage to subvert their looks and make Thelma and Louise seem like ordinary women.
Davis, in particular, practically erases her trademark poise to make Thelma believably goofy, gawky, and - when the going gets tough - steely. Watching Thelma slowly build a backbone - and develop a confidence she never had before - is breathtaking to watch. The scenes where she takes control of the situation are funny and riveting in equal measure. And in the final frames, when Thelma realizes what she and Louise have to do… well, let’s just say there’s a reason why Geena Davis in an Academy Award winner and nominee.
Sarandon is just as great. As the seemingly-together Louise, Sarandon gradually shows the damaged layers beneath the character’s brisk surface. The dark secret from Louise’s past that triggers their predicament is subtly hinted at by Sarandon’s performance, and even if it we ultimately don’t get all the details, we don’t need to - Sarandon’s expressive performance tells us all we need to know. Also, watch for the scene where Louise says goodbye to Jimmy after their night together: Sarandon’s face here is absolutely hypnotic - as she silently expresses Louise’s buried love for Jimmy, and her unspoken fear that she may never see him again. Brilliant. Just… brilliant.
Finally, this movie wouldn’t be the classic masterpiece that it is without the efforts of Sir Ridley Scott. Having helmed such winners as ALIEN, BLADE RUNNER, BLACK RAIN, GLADIATOR, HANNIBAL, BLACK HAWK DOWN, and ROBIN HOOD, Scott knows a thing or two about telling a powerful story. Equal kudos to Hans Zimmer for his wonderfully evocative score, which somehow manages to be both deeply sad, yet somehow also quietly hopeful, at the same time. Why this music has never been officially released on CD is yet another mystery that score collector like me will never fathom. Just as with Zimmer’s unforgettable music for SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE, the score for THELMA & LOUISE needs to be shared with the world…
…just like the movie it graces.
