PP’s Movie Review: Thelma & Louise

While I was recently searching for movies involving road trips, one of the movies suggested to me was Thelma & Louise. As I watched the trailer, I was very intrigued to see what type of shenanigans these two ladies would get into on the road. From there, I decided to watch the whole film. The plan was for Thelma and Louise to go on this weekend road trip that would give the ladies a break from their everyday lives and relationship problems. Thelma doesn’t end up telling her husband Darryl about the trip like she planned since his controlling nature would’ve caused him to say no. So instead she takes his gun and leaves a note for him regarding her absence. Once they start traveling, they get to this bar where Thelma meets a guy named Harlan who attempts to rape her in the bar’s parking lot. Louise finds them, stops the assault in time and proceeds to threaten Harlan by placing Darryl’s gun on his neck so that he could let Thelma go. Out of spite, Harlan provokes Louise, saying he should’ve gone through with the assault. Louise then proceeds to shoot Harlan dead. Realizing that she just committed murder, Louise decides that she and Thelma have to flee. So now the two women have a way bigger issue on their hands than the ones they were escaping from. I knew the attempted assault that led to the murder was gonna happen by reading the synopsis, but the ladies trying to get away with murder is what threw me for a loop. From that point, I knew this film would be a wild ride. It deserves a 9/10 rating from me.

Thelma and Louise started off being really excited for this trip. It was so nice to see them driving that beautiful green 1966 Ford Thunderbird with their hair blowing in the wind, being able to enjoy the ride if only for a moment. I’m not sure if the outside air smelled great, but I’m sure that they would enjoy the scent of our Lil’Moon air fresheners once they put the roof up. Once they had to return to the road as fugitives there was a wave of anxiety that took over, but somehow these two women were able to feel that excitement again. As the trip continued, Louise and Thelma were singing along to music as if nothing happened. As if there wasn’t a chance that they could say goodbye to their freedom and go to prison. Thelma did suggest that they should turn themselves in at first. But if that happened, there would be no adventure for us viewers to witness. That’s when I realized I couldn’t take the film too seriously. I just continued to enjoy witnessing this crazy adventure.

 I want to talk about Thelma and Louise’s friendship. They both were able to comfort each other while in distress, but Louise was more like a big sister to Thelma. I wonder if the director intentionally made Louise the “big sister” type of friend to Thelma to adjust to the nearly 10 year age difference between Susan Sarandon (Louise) and Geena Davis (Thelma) or if Louise was written that way from the start. Either way, Susan Sarandon did a great job of portraying a woman who most likely went through her own trauma that she couldn’t open up about, but still was able to save her friend so that she didn’t have to end up in that same position. Louise always used her intuition to protect her and Thelma. For example: When Harlan asked the women why they were at the bar, Thelma was about to tell them about their getaway trip when Louise interjected and suggested that Harlan minded his own business. She also didn’t trust J.D. and initially said no to giving him a ride before Thelma convinced Louise to change her mind. Thelma was very naive and too quick to trust these strange men, only for Louise’s suspicions to be proven right. I also found it interesting how Darryl claimed that Louise was a bad influence on Thelma. That was only somewhat true due to the two women ending up on the run for murder. However, unlike Darryl, Louise respected Thelma’s right to choose her fate. Louise implied that Thelma didn’t have to go with her to Mexico, but that’s where she was headed either way. Once Darryl found out that the ladies went for a roadtrip, he demanded Thelma to come home or else he might do something to her. Thelma found the courage to stand up to Darryl and agreed to flee to Mexico with Louise. So I really appreciated seeing Louise being a protective friend but not overbearing like Darryl was to Thelma. 

© Solaris Distribution / PathEntertainment / Percy Main / Star Partners III Ltd. / MGM

I was really amazed by Louise and Thelma’s determination to get to Mexico no matter who stood in their way. Even when J. D. stole the ladies’ getaway money, that feeling of panic overcame them again until Thelma made the impulsive decision to rob a grocery store to make up for the stolen money. Louise was stressed about the robbery at first, but eventually both ladies felt thrilled to be able to get away with another crime. The excitement returned once again. Not only were they set on getting away, they were set on enjoying the rest of their trip. Towards the end of the movie the cops surrounded Thelma and Louise at the Grand Canyon, demanding their surrender. Instead, they decide to drive off the cliff and the movie ends there. It does bother me a little bit that the movie ended on a literal cliffhanger. I prefer stories with closure, which is why I took one point off my rating. But I guess the writer wanted to put more focus on the fact that Thelma and Louise successfully escaped and not on how they did it. Dead or alive, nobody was gonna take away their freedom ever again. I’m happy I chose this film to watch because it’s definitely one that I’ll never forget.