Thelma and Louise blew into cinemas in the summer of 1991 with a wave of controversy that to this day remains, at least to some extent. Most of the complaints were overblown, made by straight, white male critics thoroughly unprepared to watch women break free and be the outlaws for once. They even went so far as to call the film anti-male, conveniently overlooking the fact that the film was indeed directed by a man, Ridley Scott.
To properly analyze the film, first let me give you the plot of the film. The film focuses on two suburban Arkansas women. Thelma, played by Geena Davis, is a housewife to an emotionally abusive schmuck Darryl (played by Christopher McDonald). Louise, played by Susan Sarandon, is a waitress who is at a crossroads in her life and with her boyfriend, Jimmy. The two are leaving town, to spend the weekend at Louise's boss's cabin.
On the way there, they decide to stop off at a roadhouse to have a couple drinks and unwind. Thelma meets a man, Harlan, who she is having fun flirting with. Things take a bad turn when he takes her out to the parking lot to get some air and then proceeds to attempt to rape her. Louise shows up in time and pulls a gun on him to get him to back off. As they're leaving, Harlan taunts the two girls and Louise turns back to him and shoots him in cold blood. Panicking, they flee the scene.
Knowing there was no way she is going to get off, Louise decides to make a run for the border. Having nothing to go back to, Thelma decides to stand by her best friend. This turns out to be easier said than done as complications mount, especially with the arrival of thieving hitchhiker J.D, played by Brad Pitt at his sexiest, who quickly becomes the object of Thelma's love starved lusting.
At the heart of the film is the two dynamite performances by Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis. Each one plays their role to absolute perfection and you can't help but love and side with the characters all the way through the film. They stand by one another, help each other when the other is in the throes of despair, trading off taking charge of the situation including, among other things, Thelma robbing a convenience store after they get robbed.
Meanwhile, a police detective played by Harvey Keitel, Hal Slocumb, is trying to track down the two women and when they finally make contact tries everything he can to get them to come in peacefully. Of course, Louise doesn't believe him and continues to try and leave the country.
Callie Khouri wrote the script and weaves a tightly plotted story, spiced with humor, drama and adventure about two women who over the course of a couple days see their lives spin wildly out of control and try their best to adapt to it. Over the course of their journey, both women reflect on their lives in comparison to their present state, slowly shedding their baggage both figuratively and literally. This is wonderfully illustrated in a scene late in the film when Louise takes off all her jewelry, trading it with an old man for his cowboy hat. She no longer needed it and had not use for it. Thelma has a similar scene where she expresses that she finally feels awake, really awake and that going back to her old life was no longer a possibility. She was all in, no matter what.
The film itself is wonderfully directed by Ridley Scott. In addition to telling a moving story, the film is absolutely beautiful to look at with stunning cinematography by Adrian Biddle. The film captures the wonderful vistas of the American Southwest, typified in a nighttime scene when Thelma and Louise drive through the deserts of New Mexico (although it was actually filmed in Moab, Utah). It ends with Louise pulling over to the side of the road and having a quiet moment to herself to reflect for a bit while Thelma sleeps in the car. It's quiet moments like this that make the film so memorable for me.
In the end, I'd like to think that this film has stood the test of time for being a good film with strong characters, hoping that most of the controversy has dissipated as time has gone by. While some would no doubt still take issue with the content of the film, it is significantly less violent than critics would suggest making it sound like Thelma and Louise go on a killing spree when in fact only one person is killed, a rapist no less. I would urge critics of the film to examine exactly why they have issue with the film. I, for one, found it an intensely moving and well made film that I still enjoy revisiting periodically.
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