Thelma & Louise (1991)

Directed by: Ridley Scott | 129 minutes | action, drama, adventure, crime | Actors: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Christopher MacDonald, Brad Pitt, Stephen Tobolowsky, Timothy Carhart, Lucinda Jenney, Jason Beghe, Marco St. John, Sonny Carl Davis, Ken Swofford, Shelly Desai, Carol Mansell

‘Thelma & Louise’ is a topper among the road movies that flooded the cinemas in the early 1990s (including ‘Wild at Heart’ (1990), ‘Natural Born Killers’ (1994), ‘Kalifornia’ (1993), ‘ True Romance’ (1993)). The film stands out because of its original approach and good balance between dramatic, comic and crime elements. The focus is on two women from southern Arkansas whose lives have more or less gone astray. Dependent Thelma is used by her husband Daryll (Christopher MacDonald) as a wipeout and life-scarred Louise doesn’t know what’s next for her relationship with Marlboroman Jimmy (Michael Madsen). The two go out for a weekend – as it is so beautifully called in American English – to let go of their hair. Easy prey Thelma immediately gets into trouble by getting involved with the wrong man in a country pub; with all its consequences.

A variant of the traditional highway romance unfolds that is unparalleled. Was the road not only reserved for men? So no. “Fill her up,” Louise snaps at every gas station where her 66 Thunderbird stops. Thelma breaks loose on the basis of tragic heroine Louise, who, after a series of humiliating events, has long realized that fate only needs a push or jump. The two form a strong couple. It’s true that a bus between the two actresses and Susan Sarandon is perfect for the role of an experienced working-class woman, which she also fulfilled with brilliance in ‘Bull Durham’ (1988) and ‘White Palace’ (1990).

When Louise doesn’t remember, the previously passive Thelma takes matters into her own hands; where Louise breaks, Thelma blossoms. The journey through the wild west is an adventure for Thelma, but a flight for Louise, giving this film a good balance between road action and drama. Beautiful in that light is the interlude in a motel, where Jimmy makes a frantic attempt to repent Louise and Thelma lets herself be tricked by charmer JD (a youthful Brad Pitt). Nowhere, however, does the work of director Ridley Scott from ‘Blade Runner’ (1982) and screenwriter Callie Khouri become too heavy, too hilarious or too feminist. For a moment, the film seems to be going politically correct when the ladies give a sexist truck driver his fat, but the humor and action are back in time to take over. Even the heroic outcome the two choose their own end to captivity escapes the scrutiny of criticism. After all, in the Canyonlands National Park setting for the final chord, wild horses would rather jump off the cliffs than be caught by their hunters. Nice.