THELMA AND LOUISE. Directed by Ridley Scott; written by Callie Khouri; produced by Ridley Scott and Mimi Polk for MGM. Starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon. Rated R.
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Thelma and Louise is a well-made, entertaining little movie that's had a lot of Heavy Press. Particularly considering it really is just your basic cops-and-robbers action picture.
You can be sure that if its title was "Michael and David" or "Bobby and Fred," it would hardly be noticed, would hardly stand out among a sea of buddy movies.
But, of course, we're dealing with female buddies here. And it's quite amazing how much of a different spin that puts on both the story, and, to an even greater extent, people's reactions to it.
Most of the criticism I've heard leveled at Thelma and Louise is unjustified. It's not a male-bashing exercise, for one thing. Sure, there are both hateful and ridiculous men characters in the movie, but there are decent and sympathetic ones, too. And how many dozens of movies have we seen with only hateful or ridiculous women characters?
The "too violent" criticism doesn't hold water, either. In reality, the body count here is miniscule compared to that in a lot of male buddy movies, including the universally revered Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The difference here is only the gender of the perpetrators.
In judging a movie fairly, the strength of the story, and the artistry of its telling, have to be the main criteria. And Thelma and Louise tells its interesting, if basically unoriginal, story very well. It's well-paced, with witty (but believable) dialogue and gorgeous cinematography.
But the acting has to take the major credit for the movie's success. Sarandon and Davis are outstanding, creating life-like, absorbing characters who actually develop and change in response to events and to their feelings.
Not always sympathetic, not always smart, they're real flesh-and-blood people who forge a bond with the audience as surely as with each other.
August 14, 1991