THELMA AND LOUISE
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1991 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: This is a cross-country chase film with
a strong feminist subtext. Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis
find themselves in a life of crime in a world with little
support from the opposite sex. Rating: high +1 [-4 to +4].
Thelma and Louise have had it. Thelma (played by Geena Davis) is something somewhere between a housewife and a household appliance. Her husband bullies her, cheats on her, and treats her like dirt. Louise has it a little better as an unmarried waitress with a foul-tempered boyfriend. The two of them want just to get away for a weekend and do a little fishing. Then, after an evening in a bar, Thelma is almost raped and Louise has shot the rapist. Suddenly the two are on the run from the law, a situation they find both exhilarating and terrifying. Thelma has never been allowed to think for herself. Now that she is free and thinking, it is not surprising that her decisions are not very well thought-out and generally get the two deeper into trouble. In a sense this is a coming-of-age film about Thelma.
At least superficially, this is a story that has been done many times before. The sympathetic characters start with a little fun, enrage the law, and eventually are being chased by regiments of law enforcement officers. Yes, the film does have car chases and hair-breadth escapes and the usual scenes of police cars cork-screwing through the air and crashing. Take away the subtext and you have a very cliched film. The subtext, however, makes this a very strong little propaganda film. There are a lot of men in this film and only one man is decent and another is decent when he is not having a temper tantrum. Jimmy, Louise's boyfriend, does prove to have redeeming features. And Hal, the policeman tracking Thelma and Louise, manages to understand every wall of the box the two of them are in. Hall is more interested in saving the two from harm than he is in catching them. If this film has a hero, it is Hal. But every hunk Thelma tries to pick up only makes things worse. Truck drivers on the road are sexist pigs. And Thelma's husband Daryl is a real piece of work.
Ridley Scott's direction is good in the human interaction scenes if rather cliched in the action scenes. The photography of the great Southwest is certainly visually stunning. Still, the film's message about feminism and, in general, freedom comes on a little strong. While the rapist certainly has none of the audience's sympathy, killing him seems unnecessary. We want to see his attitudes and behavior punished, but like Louise, we have strong second thoughts as to whether his crimes deserve the death penalty.
In any case, this may be one of the most intelligent cross-country chase films. I give it a high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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