Thirty-five years have passed since Ridley Scott's film Thelma and Louise was first released, to much acclaim. On first viewing, decades ago, I was very impressed, but I decided to take another look at it, to see if I liked it as much after so much water has flowed under the bridge. And if ever a film set in the 90s has stood the test of time, it's Thelma and Louise.
You could call this a feminist film, a buddy movie, a crime film, a revenge thriller, or a black comedy; none of these labels are wrong, but none of them is broad enough to encompass the full range of Callie Khouri's impressive screenplay. There are some very dark moments indeed, but there's also a lot of variety, peaks and troughs of action and emotion. All as impressive today, in my opinion, as they were at the time.
Thelma (Geena Davis) is a beautiful but unsophisticated woman married to a carpet salesman who doesn't value her. Her pal Louise (Susan Sarandon) is a feisty waitress who has encouraged her to go on a vacation as a means of escape from their unsatisfactory lives. When Thelma's naivete gets her into trouble, Louise's temper flares up with disastrous results.
From then on, the pair are fleeing, not just from the police but from the lives they knew. They find a kind of liberation together, but it comes at a huge cost. I admire the way the script charts the evolution of their relationship and the film has one of the great, iconic endings, right up there with favourites of mine like those in movies like Don't Look Now and The Long Good Friday. Harvey Keitel plays a sympathetic cop effectively (it's not true, I think, to say that this film is anti-men) and Michael Madsen and Brad Pitt also have key roles. They are all very good, but the film belongs to the two leads. And to Scott, who is such a fine director.
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