I recently revisited this movie since my cable provider is playing it in heavy rotation, and I found myself thinking at one point "it's only halfway over?!" I mean, I've seen the movie one hundred times before (who hasn't), and I had always remembered liking it, but now that I'm older, I find a lot of it trite and full of boring cliches that I just don't find entertaining anymore. And why does it seem to take a damn month to get to Mexico, and they still only make it to the Grand Canyon? What's up with that? Thelma's husband is a caricature of all the neglectful, boorish husbands you'll find on any Lifetime movie, and Thelma is the ditzy, oppressed housewife with the best friend who just gives her "ideas" about boorish husbands (from the husband point of view), and they all suck. Of course, in the world view of this cinematic journey, there are only two choices: live in a world where men are evil and women have no control over their own destiny, or don't live in this world, choosing instead to become outlaws and then kill ourselves in protest. Hmmm. The scene where Thelma is almost raped at the bar is terrible, and when Louise shoots the lout, he gets his just desert. But as Thelma states later, they could have claimed self defense, and there aren't any witnesses, so why the outlaw road trip? Oh right, because Louise has baggage from an assault she apparently suffered from in her past, so we can't trust the law either (well, that's probably true, but it's still just a plot device). I mean, robbing a convenience store and putting a cop in the trunk of his cruiser? In the beginning of the movie, Thelma wouldn't have known how to survive camping, their original vacation plan. Now she's wielding pistols, day drinking, and sleeping with Brad Pitt! All of this would only happen in a twisted fairytale, which is all it is. If you think this is a piece of feminist art, you're fooling yourself. If this were turned around, and it was a couple of dudes pulling these shenanigans, you'd be pissed at how stupid they were, and deride them for being a couple of jerks. Since it's two women though, we're supposed to sing "go sister, go!" I don't think so.
Review of Thelma & Louise
