“Thelma and Louise” DVD, Blu-Ray Movie Review

“Thelma and Louise” DVD, Blu-Ray Movie Review

Directed by Ridley Scott, Written by Calli Khouri, 130 minutes, Rated R.

By our guest blogger, Matt Schimowitz

In the Schwarzenegger-dominated early-'90s, “Thelma and Louise,” now available on Blu-ray, was a breath of fresh air. Pushing aside the machismo-driven alpha males of the previous decade’s action movies, “Thelma and Louise” breaks the genre’s patriarchal grip in a film that shows women reclaiming their lives. Director Ridley Scott doesn’t stand in their way, as Thelma and Louise outrun their male oppressors and strike out on their own.

Setting off on a weekend fishing trip to escape their jobs and vulgar suitors, a sharp waitress and a timid housewife named Thelma and Louise (Susanne Sarandon and Geena Davis) stop at a honky-tonk for a drink and a dance. After a couple rounds, Thelma goes outside with a local cowboy who then tries to rape her. Just in time, Louise appears and shoots the cowboy dead. Fearing the law, the two head towards Mexico--and get deeper into trouble.

Unlike the loner John Wayne, relationships define Thelma and Louise both in their problems and solutions. Calli Khouri’s screenplay drives them in their Thunderbird across the southwest, encountering a hostile patriarchy. The men in their lives reflect different attitudes towards women, whether they are authoritative (Harvey Keitel’s FBI agent), chauvinistic (Michael MacDonald’s Darryl, Thelma’s horrid husband), or loving (Michael Madsen’s supportive Jimmy). These dealings typify their journey, while helping them grow.

These men fill their role in the plot, but this is really the Sarandon and Davis show. Both work well off each other as they travel along markedly different paths. Thelma, the sheltered, passive housewife, comes into her own on screen – letting her hair down and discovering a knack for armed robbery. Louise, on the other hand, nearly comes apart at the seams. Sarandon plays the role as a quick-thinking outlaw, but as things progress, this subsides and makes way for a panic that only Thelma can cure.

After a decade of being a damsel in distress or a man in a dress, Scott puts femininity in the driver’s seat as “Thelma and Louise” shows strong women retaining their womanhood. For a decade that began in a sea of rippling male biceps and over-the-top explosions, “Thelma and Louise”’s forward drive and dynamic characters make for a change of pace but one that’s just as exciting.

Grade: A-