Movie's fucking amazing. At the end, I realized that this boiled down to the unlikely bond and connection between Thelma and Louise. At the beginning of the movie, we see each character packing their bags for the big trip. Lousie travels light, and through her neat and precise ways of loading the suitcase, we see who she really is; a sensible woman. She packs only essentials, and folds everything up neatly so it will fit well. Thelma on the other hand, packs way too many unnecessary things. Clothes she'll never wear, soaps she'll never use. This little interspliced sequence with the two women packing their bags tells us a lot abbout their characters. They're completely different people. And we see this displayed time and time again throughout the picture.

Thelma commits multiple acts of adultery, robs a store, and is quite permiscuous. Whereas Louise is a very calm, internal, street-smart woman. Throughout the whole story; Louise takes control of the situation, and calls the shots. Thelma is like her retarded child. Although, at the end; Louise becomes more like Thelma, and ends up unwinding the uptightness. It was a very character driven movie, and directed very well. The black cyclist that finds the state trooper in the trunk is definitely my favorite character.

This is attempting to be a pretty detailed critique of the patriarchy. For a while it stays surprisingly nuanced for a big Hollywood movie, pointing at stuff like the juridical system, marriage, manipulation and sex to keep women in their place. However, the movie unfortunately gets dumber and more black & white as it goes along, thus turning from an interesting drama into a full blown genre exercise. For example, it's a pretty big ask to attempt to let the viewer empathize with people who rob a gas station because they lost money due to their own naïvety. You have two very likable characters in the lead, but that's simply one bridge too far. It turns two complex characters into simple criminals. As a result, I started to lose more and more sympathy for the leads as the story continued, which definitely wasn't Scott's intention. It keeps playing with this idea that these women are victims of unfortunate circumstances, which isn't entirely true. The ending is interestingly misandrist, but emotionally it doesn't quite hit the mark because of some stupid writing decisions leading up to that point. Nevertheless, the acting's pretty great, visually it's very solid (great locations, good camerawork), it's well paced and the comedy hits. Technically, its biggest flaw easily lies with the use of sound. The music selection is pretty shitty (and there's way too much of it), a lot of the score doesn't fit in their respective scenes and some of the sound effects aren't great. All in all, there are a lot of memorable scenes and ideas here, but intellectually it's about as manipulative as the men in Thelma and Louise's lives.

6.5/10

***Entertaining but tragic road flick with Sarandon and Davis***

Two women from Arkansas (Susan Sarandon & Geena Davis) become fugitives and travel through the Southwest pursued by authorities (Harvey Keitel & Stephen Tobolowsky). Brad Pitt plays a cowboy drifter while Michael Madsen and Christopher McDonald are on hand as the beau and hubby of the women.

"Thelma & Louise" (1991) is an iconic crime drama/road movie spiced with a few thrills. It’s entertaining, but not really empowering for females, unless making rash, stupid decisions and ruining your life is empowering. It’s amusing, dramatic and scenic, yet ultimately tragic.

Sarandon was 41 during shooting while Davis was ten years younger. Both look great, but their characters are a bit of a turn-off during the opening reel, especially the ditzy Thelma (Davis), yet they win sympathy as the movie progresses.

The film runs 2 hours, 10 minutes, and was shot in Southern Cal and Utah, as well as Bedrock, Colorado.

GRADE: B

Thirty-odd years later, and this is still a classic piece of cinema. It all centres around best pals "Thelma" (Geena Davis) and "Louise" (Susan Sarandon) who are a bit bored with their respective fellas and set off on a drive. Stopping off at a roadside bar, things get out of hand when the latter woman shoots dead a man trying to rape her friend. Now it's a dark car park and they had been drinking and dancing with this guy all night, so circumstances being what they are - the girls decide discretion is the better part of valour and off they drive. Not long after, Harvey Keitel's dogged police officer "Hal" shows up and pretty soon the girls are on the run. They have to stay one step ahead of their pursuers, find a way to get some cash and decide what to do with the hunky "J.D." (Brad Pitt), an hiker who has hitched his team to their wagon - much to the delight of "Thelma" - en route to safety in Mexico (just not via Texas!)! It's a film about self discovery I suppose, but really it is an entertaining romp from two women letting the badger loose. Pitt provides the now legendary eye-candy in his 501s and the whole things demonstrates a light-hearted criminality reminiscent of "Bonnie and Clyde". There are plenty of laughs to be had, the performances all round are engaging and charismatic and it's full of attitude. If I'd been on a jury - they'd have walked!