Thelma & Louise (1991) Review

What this pictures amounts to brilliance and art. It is quite possibly the greatest road picture ever made. Yes, even better than Easy Rider. Those who might be aware of the fact that Easy Rider is one of my favorite Dennis Hopper films will know that me saying a better road film exists is an accomplishment.

As the film opens we meet Louise (Susan Sarandon), a waitress in a small Arkansas diner. During a lunch rush she takes a smoke break (in the kitchen) and calls her friend whose name is, yep you guessed Thelma (Geena Davis) and makes reference to a weekend trip to a cabin owned by a friend of Louise. Thelma is the polar opposite of Louise. She is married to a moronic hothead rug salesman named Darryl (Christopher McDonald). Thelma is so timid that she decides to wait until Darryl leaves for work, then she leaves him a note and takes his handgun (in case of bears or a serial murderer) and packs up to go on the trip with Louise. Louise herself has a boyfriend named Jimmy (Michael Madsen). He is short-tempered like Darryl but is far more well-meaning. Before Thelma and Louise arrive at their destination Thelma wants to stop at a roadside bar. Although at first unwilling to stop, Louise agrees to after she is reminded that it is also Thelma's vacation. There the pair meets a mysterious man named Harlan (Timothy Carhart) who takes an interest in Thelma and flirts with her all night. They end up in the parking lot of the bar where, after Thelma refuses to have sex with Harlan, he beats her and attempts to rape her. Louise appears brandishing the handgun. Harlan lets Thelma go but not without saying he should have raped Thelma anyway and adding a few more expletives thrown at the two women. Louise shoots and kills him. Based on the evidence against them and lack of physical evidence the two flee. Harlan's body is soon discovered and it doesn't take the police long to suspect Thelma and Louise had something to do with it. The investigation is lead by Hal Slocumb (Harvey Keitel) who immediately is sympathetic to the pair and believes that everything is not quite how it seems. As Thelma and Louise head to Mexico they keep meeting a young hitchhiker named J.D. (Brad Pitt). He turns out to be a thief and takes advantage of Thelma in order to steal the sixty-six hundred dollars given to Louise by Jimmy. Things for the women spiral more and more out of control as they try to escape with their lives. Instead of going directly from Oklahoma through Texas to Mexico the two travel around and end up going Louise insists on not going through Texas. Something happened to her in Texas years earlier that she refuses to talk about. Thelma is able to figure out Louise was raped and received no help from the police. That, we learn, is the reason for her earlier reactions about Thelma and Harlan.

The film has been discussed left and right about its apparent anti-male quality. I have never thought of this film as anti-male. Sorry, I don't relate to Harlan or feel sympathetic to the sleazy truck driver that gets his rig blown up for being a pig. The truth is that Thelma and Louise are not meant to be role models. The shooting of Harlan is the biggest mistake either one of the women could possibly make. Those mistakes continue with holding up a convenience store, trusting J.D. and locking a police officer in the truck of his car. Eventually the two go for a Bonnie and Clyde/Young Guns 2 ending as they drive their Thunderbird off a cliff.

The performances in the film are brilliant. Obviously all the leads are great but I was more moved by the performance given by Christopher McDonald who is unfortunately mostly known for his roles is bad comedies like Happy Gilmore and Flubber. Near the end of the film there is a shot of Darryl who sits at his home staring at the television on the verge of tears. We see on his face the realization of his mistakes and what he has lost. That shot only lasts for about ten seconds but what a shot.

I have one negative criticism for the film and it happens at the last shot. Instead of trusting the audience enough to follow the women's car off the cliff with a more somber score director Ridley Scott opts for a happier freeze with the car in mid-air then fades to white. As the credits role we see some snapshots reprising earlier moments in the film along with a cheesy soundtrack choice by Hans Zimmer. If you pick up the film on DVD take a look at the original ending. It's far superior.

I have enjoyed the films of director Ridley Scott and Geena Davis and Harvey Keitel and Michael Madsen and Susan Sarandon. When you add all that enormous talent you have a fantastic film.

★★★1/2