Thelma & Louise (1991)

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

After #metoo and all this masterpiece definitely needs to be upgraded. Aside from the absolutely compelling performances by Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, the prescient condemnation of male abuse of women is amazingly timely. When I first saw this film, when it came out in 1991, I thought the Geena Davis character was a jerk, always getting Louise in trouble. But, no, she was just the horribly repressed and abused woman of that era finally getting a chance to be herself. Btw, Brad Pitt is amazing in an early role.

Thelma & Louise are friends. Thelma is house wife confined to the kitchen, with a careless and angry husband. Louise is waitress who has some issues with her boyfriend. The two friends decide to take a break from their problems. They are planning for a a secret day out. They want to enjoy the freedom to the maximum. But, the enjoyment goes wrong when a man tries to rape Thelma and Louise shot him to death. Then the pleasure trip becomes an adventure. The funny girls becomes dangerous. They are also being followed by the cop.The movie is an end to end thriller. Ridley Scott was successful in making it so engaging movie. Hans Zimmer's music and Adrian Biddle's cinematography adds to the flavor.The female protagonists made great performance. This movie is among the rare films to get 2 Best Actress nomination. A definitely must watch. Highly recommended.#KiduMovie

Thelma & Louise is a take on the road-trip movie genre with one interesting difference, both of the protagonists are women. When you consider all of the films in this style, from 'Bonnie and Clyde' to 'Rain Man', this is the first time that we have followed the journey of two ordinary, working-class women. It puts a nice twist on a type of film that is usually full of twists itself. Adding to that is Ridley Scott, known for making technical marvels, trying his hand at something much more human and sensitive. The story follows our title characters as they break the shackles of their ordinary, dull lives and hit the road for a weekend of fun. Thelma is upbeat but naïve and controlled by her overbearing husband Daryl, whereas Louise is much tougher and resourceful despite her relationship with a musician going nowhere fast. Both girls have large contrasts but they seem to fit together despite that. They're characters are well-formed and emotive, endearing because they feel like real people who are simply trying to break away from their repressive lives. Importantly their characters transform as they experience more and more. They have to rely on each other and they begin to take each other's characteristics as a result. Of course things are never that straight-forward and the women are soon on the run when they kill a would-be rapist. Pursued by the police, they decide to keep on moving forward whether that includes breaking the law or disrupting their romantic relationships. Callie Khouri's script already has two interesting leads, but the acting can't be underestimated. Both Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon inhabit these roles with all the passion and wit that you would be hoping for. They work together flawlessly which helps make their friendship seem all the more plausible. Sarandon especially stands tall given how she manages to capture the weariness and yearning of Louise whilst giving her relationship to the more innocent Thelma an almost motherly edge.Along the way the girls meet a handsome drifter played by Brad Pitt (in an enjoyable early performance) who soothes Thelma's sexual desires, but then robs them of all their money. Harvey Keitel is as solid as ever playing the detective how has sympathy for their plight. He doesn't want their situation to become increasingly worse. The issues with the film come with the male characters. Though Keitel's cop does come across as genuinely concerned his colleagues don't share his sentiment. Pitt's drifter basically lies and tricks them. Thelma's husband is overly bitter and aggressive towards her for little reason. Even Michael Madsen as Louise's boyfriend seems prone to lashing out rather than calmly resolving the issues. These male characters all seem to be edgy and hostile in some way. It's not to say they're badly played or totally unrealistic, but they all appear to against the women when there is little reason or logic for them to be.Scott is a visual master and he brings his A-Game here. For a filmmaker so used to neon colours and atmospheric murkiness, it's satisfying to see him visualise the dusty trails and open roads of Southern America. The opening credits scene is simply overlooking a long road leading to a canyon. Yet it's sheer scope and its vibrant blue sky makes it the perfect introduction. There's plenty of dusky Blues music to fit the scenery and it usually sits nicely alongside Hans Zimmer's score.Sadly I really have issues with the films ending. The idea itself is fine and it is a conclusion that we don't often see and I like how everything isn't wrapped in a neat little bow. Yet the film has hit its end point and screen just fades to white after just a few seconds. It is far too abrupt. After having spent so long with these characters, growing to care about them and seeing their journey change their lives in so many ways, it almost feels like we've been duped by such a hasty final shot. It doesn't completely derail the precision of the film, but it does help stop it from reaching the true heights it was so close to.Putting its ending and its portrayal of its male characters aside, I think Thelma & Louise is a very enjoyable film that tackles subjects that aren't usually handled well and takes itself seriously. The title characters become memorable, in part due to a well written script and some wonderful acting from both actresses. It is mostly a film about friendship and freedom, something these two very different characters have in common. They escape the numbing grind of their everyday lives for something that lets them feel free, even if they break the law doing so. It's difficult not to at least appreciate a film that tells a story like this and even though it doesn't quite soar, there's still a great deal to admire about it.

When last Friday my girlfriend suggested watching "Thelma & Louise" together, I started sweating. I had been avoiding this film for a long time, mostly because of the feminist brouhaha that surrounds it. Yes, I had taken for granted that the film was a feminist manifesto, that it was about women empowerment and all the sort - just google "Thelma & Louise" and discover by yourself what I'm intending to say.But the fact is that "Thelma & Louise" is almost everything, but definitely NOT a feminist film. The main characters are two dumb persons who are not able to make sensible decisions. With a little effort the screenplay could be turned into a comedy, as the trailer suggested it was, but then the main characters should be men. The audience would not laugh at two stupid women doing stupid things and acting with rage and violence. Women are supposed to be smart and sensible; men are stupid, rough and impulsive.Under my opinion, "Thelma & Louise" stands for "equality", in a broad and authentic sense. Never ever before this film was made, two women were depicted as dumb bastards, as men often are. Of course, there had been silly housewives in the movies, and mischievous heroines too. But for the very first time two women could be treated just as two cheap cowboys or two disgraced delinquents.What went wrong, then? How is it that two dumb housewives became two champions for a whole generation of feminists? Let's go a little further.Once stated that Thelma and Louise wouldn't be Tom and Lou, there was only one possibility left: the two women were entitled to be victims. So, almost by definition, all the male characters became villains. Here is where the feminist brouhaha started. And it all grew like a huge snowball.Somehow, the screenplay had the chance of being chosen by a great director as Ridley Scott (by the way, the Coens or Tarantino would be my best choice for a remake). Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis are simply magnificent in their characters. The film, beautifully shot, became a great success. And yes, the author of the screenplay got her Oscar. Her career seems to end here. Have you ever heard about (let me google it again) Callie Khouri? Nor did I, until I was interested in this film. Since then, she has written a lot... about "Thelma & Louise", her great (and unique) success. It seems that Ms. Khouri has had time enough to think and re- think about her screenplay and about the reactions surrounding it. The feminist message (intended or not) seemed to work, at least on the surface. Let's feed the beast!SPOILERS AHEAD!Two friends, Thelma and Louise, set out in a convertible for a short vacation. Thelma is married to a man who treats her like a child. Thorough the film we shall discover that Thelma behaves indeed like a child and is unable to take care of herself in the way an adult would. For instance, she takes his husband's gun despite she doesn't know how to use it, so she lends it to Louise, believing that she will protect them both. Louise is older and works as a waitress. We are induced to think that she is the smart one, but eventually we'll discover that she is as dumb as the other woman.When they stop for a drink in a roadhouse, Thelma dances with a guy they've just met. They both get drunk and go out to the parking lot. Thelma seems not to be aware that he intends to have sex with her. When she refuses, he slaps her and attempts to rape her. Fortunately, Thelma appears with her gun and scares him. The drunk man stops, but as the two women go away he insults them. Unfortunately now, Louise loses her temper and shots him to death. Twice. The murderer decides to fly away from the police and Thelma follows her. Eventually we discover that she finds it exciting and behaves childish in order to improve the "adventure". When Louise lies to her boyfriend and manages to convince him to risk his life to help her (he is a convict under parole and shouldn't be caught helping an outlaw), Thelma leaves a stranger alone with Louise's life savings in her motel room. Even when the man steals the money Thelma doesn't realize she's done wrong. Instead of leaving Thelma (the cause of all her trouble), Louise lets her "take care of the situation", which means robbing a convenience store in the first place. It seems Thelma takes her chance to become a criminal, too.They continue acting in the most stupid way. Instead of surrendering to the police while they are not still charged with murder, they keep flying away in the very same car. Though they intend to go to Mexico, incredibly they avoid Texas (we learn that something bad happened to Louise somewhere in Texas, but it would be advisable to avoid just the town when it happened, not the whole State). They keep overreacting with violence; instead of throwing the accusing gun away, they keep using it. They lock a policeman in a car trunk in the middle of the desert and make a truck explode just because the driver insulted them (twice; the first time as they casually passed him, the second time when they sought for it). Well, it's not the best way to hide from the police.In the end, rather than be captured by the police and face their responsibilities, they decide to drive off the Grand Canyon. We assume that they intend to commit suicide, but as it is Thelma who suggests to "keep going", perhaps she believes that the car can fly. Unfortunately the film ends here and we'll never know if the two women managed to escape. Finis.