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Thelma & Louise
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Wikipedia article
'Thelma & Louise' is a 1991 American feminist female buddy road crime comedy drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri. It stars Susan Sarandon as Louise and Geena Davis as Thelma, two friends who embark on a road trip that ends up in unforeseen circumstances. Filming took place in California and Utah from June to August 1990. The supporting cast include Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Christopher McDonald, and Brad Pitt in one of his first major film roles.
The film was a critical and commercial success, receiving six Academy Award nominations and winning for Best Original Screenplay. Scott was nominated for Best Director, and both Sarandon and Davis were nominated for Best Actress. To date, this is the most recent film to have two actors nominated in the same category for either Best Actor or Best Actress. It influenced other films and artistic works and became a landmark of feminist film.
In 2016, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
Best friends Thelma Dickinson and Louise Sawyer set out for a weekend vacation at a fishing cabin in the mountains to take a break from their dreary lives in Arkansas. Thelma, a housewife, is married to disrespectful and controlling carpet salesman Darryl, while sharp-tongued Louise works as a waitress in a diner and is dating easygoing musician Jimmy, who is on the road most of the time.
On the way, they stop at a roadhouse bar, where Thelma dances with a flirtatious stranger, Harlan. He takes her to the parking lot, trying to rape her until Louise intervenes and threatens to shoot him. As the women walk away, Harlan yells vulgarities at them, so Louise shoots him in a fit of rage.
Thelma wants to go to the police, but Louise fears that no one will believe a claim of attempted rape as Thelma was drinking and dancing with Harlan, and they will be charged with murder. They decide to flee to Mexico, but Louise demands they travel there without going through Texas, as something happened to her there that she refuses to reveal. Heading west, they come across attractive young drifter, J.D., to whom Thelma takes a liking. Louise contacts Jimmy, asking him to wire her life savings to her. He surprises her by delivering the money in person, and they spend the night together. Jimmy proposes to Louise, but she refuses. Meanwhile, Thelma invites J.D. to her room, and they sleep together. She learns he is a thief who has broken parole.
The following morning, they discover J.D. has stolen Louise's life savings and fled. Louise is distraught, so a guilty Thelma takes charge and later robs a nearby convenience store using tactics she learned from J.D.. Meanwhile, the FBI closes in on them after witnesses at the bar identify Louise's 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible. Their whereabouts are also questioned by the owner of the fishing cabin after they failed to arrive.
Arkansas State Police Investigator Hal Slocumb, leading the investigation, questions both J.D. (who was caught) and Jimmy, and taps into the phone line at Darryl's house. He sympathizes with the pair's situation and understands why they did not report Harlan's killing (partly due to Louise's own experience in Texas). During a few brief phone conversations with Louise, Hal expresses his sympathy but is unsuccessful in persuading her to surrender.
Thelma tells Louise she understands if she wants to go back home, knowing she has Jimmy waiting for her, but explains she cannot go back to Darryl. Louise promises they will keep going together. While back on the road, Thelma recalls the incident with Harlan and tries to ask Louise if what happened with Harlan was what happened to Louise in Texas. Louise responds angrily and tells Thelma to never bring it up again.
Later, they are pulled over by a New Mexico state trooper for speeding. Knowing he will soon discover their true identity, Thelma holds him at gunpoint and locks him in the trunk of his police car. Driving further west, they encounter a foul-mouthed truck driver who repeatedly makes obscene gestures at them. They pull over and demand an apology from him; when he refuses, they fire at his fuel tanker, causing it to explode. The women leave him stranded in the desert with the tanker's wreckage.
Thelma and Louise are finally cornered by the authorities only one hundred yards from the edge of the Grand Canyon. Hal arrives on the scene, but he is refused the last chance to talk the women into surrendering. Rather than be captured, Thelma proposes that they "keep going". Louise asks Thelma if she is certain, and Thelma says yes. They kiss and then hold hands, Louise steps on the gas, and, as Hal desperately pursues them on foot, they accelerate over the cliff to their presumed deaths.
Cast
* Susan Sarandon as Louise Sawyer
* Geena Davis as Thelma Dickinson
* Harvey Keitel as Arkansas State Police Detective Hal Slocumb
* Michael Madsen as Jimmy Lennox
* Christopher McDonald as Darryl Dickinson
* Stephen Tobolowsky as FBI Agent Max
* Brad Pitt as J.D.
* Timothy Carhart as Harlan Puckett
* Jason Beghe as State Trooper
* Lucinda Jenney as Lena, the waitress
* Marco St. John as Truck Driver (uncredited)
Credits adapted from American Film Institute.
Production
Development
The idea for 'Thelma & Louise' originated in the spring of 1988 when Callie Khouri, then a music video producer, was driving home from work to her apartment in Santa Monica. She spent the following six months working on her first screenplay, which was noted to have drawn inspiration from her own experience as well as her friendship with country music singer Pam Tillis. She had intended it to be a low-budget independent film, directed by herself and produced by fellow music video producer Amanda Temple (wife of English filmmaker Julien Temple). After shopping the project around and finding no takers, Temple showed the script to her friend Mimi Polk Gitlin, who ran Ridley Scott's Percy Main Productions (later Scott Free Productions). Gitlin in turn showed the script to Scott, who expressed great enthusiasm for the project. He agreed to produce the film and bought the film rights for $500,000. Path Entertainment, then led by Scott's friend and collaborator Alan Ladd Jr., came on board as a co-producer and financier.
Scott considered four people for the role of director, all of whom turned down the opportunity. Per Gitlin's recollection, three of the candidates were Bob Rafelson, Kevin Reynolds and Richard Donner. Scott was reluctant to direct the film himself but eventually took on the role, having been persuaded by Michelle Pfeiffer to do so.
Casting
Michelle Pfeiffer and Jodie Foster were originally chosen for the leads; both accepted their roles with enthusiasm. As pre-production of the film dragged on, the two eventually dropped out, with Pfeiffer going on to star in 'Love Field' and Foster in 'The Silence of the Lambs'. Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn then offered to play the leads, but Streep later dropped out due to scheduling conflicts while Hawn was not considered right for the part. Geena Davis (who had been vigorously pursuing the lead role for nearly a year) and Susan Sarandon were ultimately chosen. The two took extensive driving and shooting lessons in preparation for their roles.
Scott personally convinced Harvey Keitel to take on the role of Hal, the sympathetic Arkansas detective. The two had previously collaborated in Scott's feature directorial debut, the 1977 film 'The Duellists'. Davis recommended her ex-boyfriend Christopher McDonald for the role of Darryl, Thelma's controlling husband. Scott wanted Michael Madsen for Harlan, Thelma's would-be rapist, but Madsen was unwilling; he eventually won the role of Jimmy, Louise's boyfriend. Brad Pitt auditioned for the hustler J.D.; however, the part originally went to Billy Baldwin. Pitt eventually secured the role after both Baldwin and his replacement dropped out. George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Grant Show, John Mellencamp, Dylan McDermott, James LeGros and Dermot Mulroney were also considered for the role of J.D.
Filming
Principal photography for 'Thelma & Louise' began on June 11, 1990, and concluded on August 31, 1990. Although the setting for the film is a fictional route between Arkansas and the Grand Canyon, it was filmed almost entirely in the states of California and Utah. The primary filming locations were rural areas around Bakersfield, California and Moab, Utah. The Grand Canyon scenes were filmed just south of Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah. Parts of the film were also shot at Shafer Overlook, Monument Valley, La Sal Mountains, La Sal Junction, Cisco, Old Valley City Reservoir, Thompson Springs, Arches National Park, and Crescent Junction in Utah.
Soundtrack
Pete Haycock on slide guitar contributed to 'Thunderbird', the theme music for the film. In addition to Glenn Frey's "Part of Me, Part of You", which became the film's primary theme song, the soundtrack included songs performed by Chris Whitley ("Kick The Stones"), Martha Reeves ("Wild Night" written by Van Morrison), Toni Childs ("House Of Hope"), Marianne Faithfull ("Ballad of Lucy Jordan" written by Shel Silverstein), Charlie Sexton ("Badlands"), Grayson Hugh ("I Can't Untie You From Me"), B.B. King ("Better Not Look Down" written by Joe Sample & Will Jennings), Michael McDonald ("No Lookin' Back"), The Temptations ("The Way You Do The Things You Do" written by Smokey Robinson & Bobby Rogers), and Johnny Nash ("I Can See Clearly Now").
Release
'Thelma & Louise' was screened out of competition as the closing film at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. Theatrical release was delayed due to financial turmoil at MGM-Path. The film eventually opened in American theaters on May 24, 1991 and was a box-office success, grossing $45 million within the country.
Reception
The film received critical acclaim. Janet Maslin of 'The New York Times' had only praise for the film in her review:
Roger Ebert also praised the film but withheld a perfect score on the basis of "the last shot before the titles begin. It's a freeze frame that fades to white, which is fine, except it does so with unseemly haste .... It's unsettling to get involved in a movie that takes 128 minutes to bring you to a payoff that the filmmakers seem to fear."
After watching the film, singer-songwriter Tori Amos wrote "Me and a Gun", the story of her rape several years earlier.
The final scene, where the two embrace before committing suicide by driving off a cliff, has become iconic. Numerous homages and parodies of the scene have appeared, including alternate film endings, cartoon parodies, video game "Easter eggs", and as a tragic ending to television series, music videos, and commercials.
The film also received harsh criticism from those who thought it was biased against men and that its depictions of men were unfairly negative.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 76 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Simultaneously funny, heartbreaking, and peppered with action, Ridley Scott's 'Thelma & Louise' is a potent, well-acted road movie that transcends the feminist message at its core." On Metacritic, the film received a score of 88 based on 12 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
The film placed second to 'The Silence of the Lambs' as the best film of 1991 in a poll of 81 critics.
Feminism
Numerous critics and writers have remarked on the strong feminist overtones of 'Thelma & Louise'. Film critic B. Ruby Rich praises the film as an uncompromising validation of women's experiences, while Kenneth Turan calls it a "neo-feminist road movie". In her essay "The Daughters of Thelma and Louise", Jessica Enevold argues that the film constitutes "an attack on conventional patterns of chauvinist male behavior toward females". In addition, it "exposes the traditional stereotyping of malefemale relationships" while rescripting the typical gender roles of the road movie genre.
In her review for the 'Los Angeles Times', film critic Sheila Benson objects to the characterization of the film as feminist, arguing that it is more preoccupied with revenge and violence than feminist values.
In his review for the 'New York Post', film critic Kyle Smith describes the film as "a misogynist tale about unbelievably ditzy women who lose what remains of their reason under pressure and suffer the ultimate punishment." Smith's review focused on the terrible decisions these female characters make throughout the entire film.
In an article commemorating the film's 20th anniversary in 2011, Raina Lipsitz called it "the last great film about women" and said that it heralded the achievements of women that caused 1992 to become "the year of the woman". However, she also said that women-themed films have since been losing ground.
Accolades
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
|-
| rowspan="5"| 20/20 Awards
| colspan="2"| Best Picture
|
|-
| Best Director
| Ridley Scott
|
|-
| Best Actress
| Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| Best Supporting Actress
| Geena Davis
|
|-
| Best Original Screenplay
| Callie Khouri
|
|-
| rowspan="6"| Academy Awards
| Best Director
| Ridley Scott
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Actress
| Geena Davis
|
|-
| Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
| Callie Khouri
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
| Adrian Biddle
|
|-
| Best Film Editing
| Thom Noble
|
|-
| Australian Film Institute Awards
| Best Foreign Film
| rowspan="2"| Mimi Polk Gitlin and Ridley Scott
|
|-
| rowspan="9"| Awards Circuit Community Awards
| Best Motion Picture
|
|-
| Best Director
| Ridley Scott
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Actress in a Leading Role
| Geena Davis
|
|-
| Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| Best Original Screenplay
| Callie Khouri
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
| Adrian Biddle
|
|-
| Best Film Editing
| Thom Noble
|
|-
| colspan="2"| Best Cast Ensemble
|
|-
| colspan="2"| Best Stunt Ensemble
|
|-
| Bodil Awards
| Best Non-European Film
| Ridley Scott
|
|-
| Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
| Best Actress
| Geena Davis
|
|-
| rowspan="8"| British Academy Film Awards
| Best Film
| Mimi Polk Gitlin and Ridley Scott
|
|-
| Best Direction
| Ridley Scott
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Actress in a Leading Role
| Geena Davis
|
|-
| Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| Best Screenplay Original
| Callie Khouri
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
| Adrian Biddle
|
|-
| Best Editing
| Thom Noble
|
|-
| Best Original Film Score
| Hans Zimmer
|
|-
| British Society of Cinematographers
| Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film
| Adrian Biddle
|
|-
| rowspan="6"| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
| colspan="2"| Best Film
|
|-
| Best Director
| Ridley Scott
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Actress
| Geena Davis
|
|-
| Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| Best Screenplay
| Callie Khouri
|
|-
| Most Promising Actor
| Brad Pitt
|
|-
| Csar Awards
| Best Foreign Film
| Ridley Scott
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| DallasFort Worth Film Critics Association Awards
| colspan="2"| Best Film
|
|-
| Best Actress
| Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| Best Screenplay
| Callie Khouri
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| David di Donatello Awards
| Best Foreign Film
| Ridley Scott
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Foreign Actress
| Geena Davis
|
|-
| Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| Directors Guild of America Awards
| Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
| rowspan="2"| Ridley Scott
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Faro Island Film Festival
| Best Film (Golden Train Award)
|
|-
| Best Actor (Audience Award)
| Brad Pitt
|
|-
| rowspan="4"| Golden Globe Awards
| colspan="2"| Best Motion Picture Drama
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama
| Geena Davis
|
|-
| Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| Best Screenplay Motion Picture
| Callie Khouri
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| London Film Critics Circle Awards
| colspan="2"| Film of the Year
|
|-
| Director of the Year
| Ridley Scott
|
|-
| Actress of the Year
| Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
| Best Actress
| rowspan="2"| Geena Davis
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| MTV Movie Awards
| Best Female Performance
|
|-
| Best On-Screen Duo
| Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Nastro d'Argento
| Best Foreign Director
| Ridley Scott
|
|-
| Best Female Dubbing
| Rossella Izzo
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| National Board of Review Awards
| colspan="2"| Top Ten Films
|
|-
| Best Actress
| Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| National Film Preservation Board
| colspan="2"| National Film Registry
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| National Society of Film Critics Awards
| Best Actress
| Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| Best Supporting Actor
| Harvey Keitel
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| New York Film Critics Circle Awards
| Best Actress
| Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| Best Screenplay
| Callie Khouri
|
|-
| Online Film & Television Association Awards
| colspan="2"| Hall of Fame Motion Picture
|
|-
| PEN Center USA West Literary Awards
| Screenplay
| Callie Khouri
|
|-
| Sant Jordi Awards
| Best Foreign Actress
| Susan Sarandon
|
|-
| Turkish Film Critics Association Awards
| colspan="2"| Best Foreign Film
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Valladolid International Film Festival
| Golden Spike
| rowspan="2"| Ridley Scott
|
|-
| Best Film (Audience Award)
|
|-
| Writers Guild of America Awards
| Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
| Callie Khouri
|
|}
The British Film Institute published a book about the film in 2000 as part of a Modern Classics series. On the Writers Guild of America Award's list of 101 best screenplays, it made No.72.
Notes
References
Works cited
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Further reading
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