Thelma And Louise (DVD)

...nineties, in my opinion, was Thelma and Louise. All aspects of the film are wonderfully done. The acting. The directing. The writing. There’s nothing missing in it. All the boxes have been ticked. It’s been labelled many a time as a chick flick, which totally lowers it. What Thelma and Louise is, is a film about independence. About love. Not sexual love, but the love you can feel for a friend. Most films don’t concentrate on this ...
...scenario that has become tiring. Thelma and Louise was a classic film way before it’s time. And that’s just one reason why it’s one of the best films not just of the nineties, but also of all time.


◄◄The Plot►►

Thelma and Louise are the best of friends. Louise is a carefree waitress, and Thelma a fed-up housewife. She’s stuck in a dead-end marriage with a husband ... more

One of the best films made in the nineties, in my opinion, was Thelma and Louise. All aspects of the film are wonderfully done. The acting. The directing. The writing. There’s nothing missing in it. All the boxes have been ticked. It’s been labelled many a time as a chick flick, which totally lowers it. What Thelma and Louise is, is a film about independence. About love. Not sexual love, but the love you can feel for a friend. Most films don’t concentrate on this aspect of a relationship with people. Almost all Hollywood films nowadays have a boy meets girl scenario that has become tiring. Thelma and Louise was a classic film way before it’s time. And that’s just one reason why it’s one of the best films not just of the nineties, but also of all time.

◄◄The Plot►►

Thelma and Louise are the best of friends. Louise is a carefree waitress, and Thelma a fed-up housewife. She’s stuck in a dead-end marriage with a husband she hates. So, when Louise suggest that she and Thelma go away for the weekend, Thelma jumps at the chance to go; she just doesn’t tell her husband that she’s off. Louise hires a classic American soft-top car and they head off to the house in the mountains for the weekend. On their way they stop for a drink in a little bar. Thelma begins to flirt with one of the guys there, and when Louise goes to the toilet, Thelma and the guy go outside and he begins to rape her. When Louise finds them she tries to stop him from raping her, but she can’t stop him. The only way she can stop him is by shooting him; which she does. And she kills him. Thelma and Louise then find themselves running away from the law and fighting for their freedom…

◄◄The Writing ►►

“I wanted to write something that had never been on screen before.” That’s what Callie Khouri (writer of Thelma and Louise) said about Thelma and Louise. It’s amazing to think she’d never written a screenplay before, and this was her first attempt. It’s simply outstanding! She’s made a classic on her first attempt. You can simply tell when a film is a classic, and has wonderful writing when people quote from it. I remember most of the lines from the line and just love to watch it over and over and remember.

The real brilliance of the film is certainly the writing aspect. Khouri managed to show us different sort of relationships people have. Both sides. She showed the closeness of two women who are fighting to be free and not go to prison. I remember one scene at the begging after the shooting, when Louise asks Thelma if she wants to run away with her, to which she responds:
“I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet.”
It just seemed to fit her character perfectly. This was only ten minutes into the film but already we knew what kind of character Thelma and Louise were. We knew who was the strong one, who was the childish one. Khouri managed to do it early on in the film.

She won an Oscar for her great screenplay (which isn’t surprising) and it’s still considered one of the best screenplays ever written. Well, it is by me at least!

◄◄ Characters ►►

There are very little characters in the film. Altogether there are about six or seven who are relevant and who have proper lines. All the rest are just there because they’re there. I find this incredible that Khouri managed to put everything onto their shoulders. The police officer investigating their crimes was a wonderful character to watch. He had sympathy for the two women he felt for them. He knew they didn’t mean anything by their crimes, they just did something wrong and didn’t want to pay the price (the price being going to prison). It’s understandable. They were scared. The sympathy and the understanding he has towards the two women is touching. He wanted to help, not imprison them.

Thelma and Louise took up about ¾ of the film with just them on the screen at that time. It’s not easy for actresses to do this, let alone for a writer to manage to write something interesting and to keep the watcher interested in their story. But somehow with Thelma and Louise, for every second you are gripped. They grip you alone and Khouri doesn’t make the writing tiresome and the scenes with just them in aren’t tedious but the strongest in the film.

Brad Pitt’s character J.D. was also highly interesting to see develop. At first you couldn’t quite work him out. Khouri managed to make another story out of the film. J.D. was interesting in himself, and Khouri made us ponder over his actions too. I loved the way that Khouri used so little characters and the way she used each one to her advantage. And she used them well.

◄◄ The Directing ►►

Ridley Scott’s best film has to be Thelma and Louise; by far. There’s no doubt about it. What becomes really apparent throughout the film is that Scott wants simplicity. He wants the filming, the acting to echo both Thelma and Louise’s life. The simple way of living. Because Thelma and Louise doesn’t portray anything from the norm. It could easily happen. It’s as if we are just a fly on the wall. We’re there, lucky enough, to experience it.

Scott really uses his two stars to the best of their ability. You can tell just from watching the film that Scott had a profound effect on both stars and that he really helped them with it. With the acting and writing both top-notch the directing didn’t have to be good. But luckily it was, and it made the film that bit more extraordinary.

There aren’t too many camera shots in the film, we aren’t seeing this one moment and that the next and the other thing then, we just see them when we need to, which really is the way for it to be done. Some directors feel if they get the actors’ reactions from different angles it will be a success. Sometimes it can appear as a success but sometimes it can be silly and unnecessary. Scott has realised that Thelma and Louise doesn’t need anything too complicated because it’s not that sort of film. The simplicity of it works. It just works.

◄◄ The Acting ►►

And finally I arrive at the best part of all – the acting. Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis’ portrayal of two strong women is outstanding. Both women were up for Oscars, but neither won. I think they would have won if they were up in different categories, but I just felt the Academy perhaps didn’t want to favour one over the other, as both were equally great.

Both get into character straight away. Thelma and Louise has no introductions, we just go straight into the plot. There’s no messing about we delve straight in. The professionalism of the two actresses is great throughout the film. You have to remember that both women are putting accents on, yet it doesn’t bother them, as they are so in character that it doesn’t matter. They simply blow the house down with everything the two do, and I don’t think it would have worked as well without these two. Perhaps it would have worked but not as well.

Brad Pitt is also interesting to see in his breakthrough role. He plays J.D. the guy the girls meet on their trip and he plays his part wonderfully. It’s worth watching just for him, really (not that for that reason!) but all performances are wonderful. Classic, in fact. An added extra.

Thelma and Louise isn’t a chick flick. It’s a story about two women who didn’t want to go to prison for protecting themselves. And it’s bloody marvellous too!

◄◄ Quotes and Trivia ►►

There are some wonderful quotes in the film, and these are just some of them. (I’ve tried to make sure they don’t give any of the story away.)

● J.D.: Well, I've always believed that if done properly, armed robbery doesn't have to be an unpleasant experience.

● J.D.: So, tell me something, Miss Thelma. How is it you ain't got any kids? I mean God gets you something special, I think you oughta pass it on.
Thelma: Well, Daryl, that's my husband.
J.D.: Daryl?
Thelma: Yeah, he says he's not ready yet. He says he's still too much of a kid himself. He kinda prides himself on being infantile.
Louise: He's got a lot to be proud of.
Thelma: Louise and him don't get along.
Louise: That's putting it mildly.
Thelma: She thinks he's a pig.
Louise: I KNOW he's a pig.

● Thelma: Are you sure we should be driving like this, I mean in broad daylight and everything?
Louise: No we shouldn't, but I want to put some distance between us and the scene of our last goddamn crime.

●Thelma: You could park a car in the shadow of his ass.

●Louise: Now if you think he knows anything, hang up the phone, because the line will be tapped.
Dials the number
Darryl Exchanges looks with police, then answers phone
Thelma: Hey Darryl, it's me.
with forced cheer
Darryl: Hello, Thelma!
Hangs up

This is some trivia about the film, which I found quite interesting and necessary to know.

● Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep wanted to make a movie together and Thelma & Louise was one of the scripts they considered. Ultimately, they decided to star in Death Becomes Her (1992) instead.

● Then struggling actor George Clooney auditioned five times for Ridley Scott for the part of J.D. that went to Brad Pitt.

● The original Thelma and Louise were to be played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Jodie Foster, Ridley Scott was going to produce, and Callie Khouri (the screenwriter) would be directing. In the end, the pitching took so long that Pfeiffer and Foster were no longer available, and Scott had been persuaded to direct it himself.

●Cher was also offered the role of Louise but turned it down.

© Matt Roberts 2004.

 

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