Episode #118: Thelma & Louise
Listen to Episode 118 of the Podcast here while you enjoy the show notes.
SUMMARY - In Thelma & Louise, two best friends hit the road for a weekend road trip and briefly escape their obnoxious home lives. During their first stop at a roadhouse bar, Thelma (played by Geena Davis) is assaulted and Louise (played by Susan Sarandon) comes to her rescue by shooting the man dead. Convinced no one will believe the true series of events, they get back in their car and go on the lam.
Screenplay by Callie Khouri; Directed by Ridley Scott; and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 1991.
FILM DISCUSSION
There's a lot to unpack, so we hope you do listen to the episode as there is too many topics to cover below in this summary. The movie starts off relatively happy even though the leads are looking to escape a boring, unfulfilling existence.
We spend some time talking about the common criticism that this movie is "man hating" and disputing this.
The characters go through impressive levels of changes
We discuss that what happened to Louise in Texas matters, but it's important that we don't know what it was.
Throughout there are beautiful road trip images as the women take large detours
Everything escalates in this movie and it does have some nice car chase action sequences near the end
And of course, we have to talk about the ending that was spoiled nearly instantly upon release back in 1991.
Awards Talk: The film won the Oscar for Original Screenplay, and was nominated for Editing, Cinematography, Director, and both stars got Lead Actress nods. BAFTA nominations also included Best Score and Best Film. At the MTV Movie Awards it was nominated for Best Female Performance (Davis), Best Duo, and clips shown in the 'Women with Guns' and Quotes montages.
TRUE CRIME & POP CULTURE
This week we don't have any true crime to talk about so we're talking TV.
Here's what was playing when Thelma & Louise was released
Best of Disney: 50 Years of Magic
Omen IV: The Awakening - This apparently first released on Fox's "Night at the Movies" then had a limited theater release in August 1991
The other TV movie airing was "Reason for Living: the Jill Ireland Story"
Also, Nikki briefly touched on how Thelma & Louise could be interpreted as a queer movie and these are the resources we referenced.
RANKINGS & RATINGS
Nikki 1-5 star scale - 5 out of 5
Jon 0-4 star scale - 3 1/2 out of 4
Would you watch it again? - Yes we would. Even though there is some darker, heavier subject matter the overall experience is a fascinating one. It's a great slow-burn action movie, it's a great relationship movie, it's an all-around great movie.
If you want to watch Thelma & Louise, as of this recording in June 2023, it’s available on Prime, Cinemax, TCM, Digital Rental, VHS, DVD. Check your local listings.
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