Thelma & Louise is an American road movie that was released 24th May 1991 & happens to be one of my favourite films. It runs for approximately 129 minutes & is rated 15. The film was made on a budget of $16,500,000 & grossed an estimated $45,360,915 at the box office. Thelma & Louise was an instant success, the critics simply had nothing negative to say about it.
Thelma & Louise is directed by extremely accomplished director Ridley Scott who I’m sure most of you will know. He’s directed huge hits such as: Gladiator, Blade Runner & Alien.
Thelma & Louise steers away from the norm, being that the lead characters are played by females. Thelma is played by Geena Davis who’s appeared in: The Fly, Stuart Little & Tootsie. Louise is played by Susan Sarandon who’s married to Tim Robbins, she’s appeared in films including: Stepmom, Dead Man Walking & Little Women. Brad Pitt co-stars in what was his first big role, I’m not going to tell you about Brad Pitt… because well… it’s Brad Pitt!
Thelma & Louise are best friends. Thelma is the dizzy one who’s in an unhappy marriage with Darryl (Christopher McDonald), Darryl is the only man that Thelma has ever ’been’ with as she was only 18 when she married him. Louise is very strong willed, Louise is the sensible one that’s always around to bail Thelma out of any situations. Louise is
in a relationship with Jimmy (Michael Madsen).
Thelma & Louise have planned a weekend away from their men, they set off in Louise’s Thunderbird car for a weekend of fishing. Along the way the two women stop off at a bar for drinks, Thelma is approached by a handsome man who offers to buy her a drink, the two dance together all night & when Thelma starts to feel light-headed he takes her outside for some fresh air. From then on the night goes horribly wrong as the man attempts to rape Thelma, Louise turns up just in time to stop it but what she does doesn’t exactly go how she had planned it to & the two women end up as fugitives on the run from the police…
As I mentioned earlier, this is one of my favourite films. I just think it’s brilliant, it’s a serious film but has just the right amount of humour injected into it. The script is brilliant & the two leads have some brilliant one-liners throughout the film.
The acting is brilliant, Geena Davis plays the character of Thelma brilliantly, she provides a lot of the laughs with her one-liners & the way she acts without thinking things through, leaving Louise to pick up the pieces. The store robbery is just genius & without doubt my favourite part of the movie, every time I see it I laugh all the way through. It was brilliantly thought out & depicts Thelma’s character perfectly. Susan Sarandon is great at portraying Louise, the smart one who loves her best friend & is always there for her no matter what, she has some really funny moments too. Louise is definitely the stronger character as most of the things that happen during the film are down to her. You also find out what made her act the way she did at the bar as the film progresses which is really important to the story & makes you feel for the character. Brad Pitt of course plays JD, a robber who befriends Thelma, I don’t think his part in the film would have become so notorious if it wasn’t for the motel scene with Thelma where he’s topless, if you’ve seen Fight Club you’ll understand what I mean! Somehow he still looks as good today as he did nearly 20 years ago.
The story of the film is brilliant & the fact that there were two female leads was a big risk which obvious paid off for Ridley Scott. This is very different to some of his other word like Gladiator & Alien but this is the film that really stands out for me. It’s got a really strong storyline, you really get behind the characters, feel their pain & enjoy the fun that they have along the way. Some would say that this is a chick flick but I would have to disagree, just because there are two female leads doesn’t mean it’s a chick flick. This film just simply wouldn’t work with two male leads. It’s a really empowering film for women but something that men can equally enjoy.
If you haven’t yet seen this fantastic, feel good film then I recommend you get yourself a copy as soon as possible as this is a definite must-see. If you’re only going to buy this film for one reason then buy it simply to watch the two brilliant scenes with Thelma, the robbery & with the policeman. They’re both serious scenes but she makes them hilarious at the same time. You simply must watch this film all the way through as the ending is absolutely fantastic & something that I wasn’t expecting on first watching this. It made me think about it afterwards & I wanted to see more!
Thelma & Louise is available on DVD from play.com £5 & the special edition is £5.99. The one disc DVD features extras including: Alternative Ending Feature Length Audio Commentary from Director Ridley Scott 8 Page booklet revealing an insight into the making of the film Chapter Search Original Theatrical Trailer Interactive Menus Scene Access
The two disc special edition features: Audio Commentary from Director Ridley Scott Audio Commentary with stars: Davis and Sarandon and screenwriter Callie Khouri 'The Last Journey': The Making Of Thelma And Louise Original Promotional Featurette 'Over The Edge' (Multi Angle Vignette) - storyboards, rare photos and film footage 'Part Of Me, Part Of You' Music Video by Glenn Frey Deleted Scenes Trailers and TV Spots Interactive Menu Scene Access
I personally own the one disc DVD but if I was to buy it now I would definitely go for the two disc, for 99p more you get a lot more extras included with it, however you don’t get the alternate ending which I think is disappointing.
The soundtrack is also available from play.com for £3.99 which is a good price but this isn’t a totally necessary purchase. The soundtrack includes: Part Of Me, Part Of You (Glenn Frey) Badlands (Charlie Sexton) House Of Hope (Toni Childs) I Can't Untie You From Me (Grayson Hugh) Better Not Look Down (B.B. King) Little Honey (Kelly Willis) Kick The Stones (Chris Whitley) Wild Night (Martha Reeves) Tennessee Plates (Charlie Sexton) The Ballad Of Lucy Jordon (Marianne Faithfull) Thunderbird (Hans Zimmer)
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Action/Adventure - Director: Peter Jackson - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Andy Serkis
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Thelma (Geena Davis) is a bored housewife. Louise (Susan Sarandon) is a waitress at a ... more
coffee shop. Together they sneak off in a '66 T-Bird convertible for a three-day fishing trip. However, things don't go according to plan.An encounter with a drunken,...
Thelma (Geena Davis) is a bored housewife. Louise (Susan Sarandon) is a waitress at a ... more
coffee shop. Together they sneak off in a '66 T-bird convertible for a three-day fishing trip. However things don't go quite according to plan. An encounter with...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Mar 7th, 2009
very helpful by (100%):
