BEFORE: One more night on the run - life on the lam this week has been very male-centric so far, so it's time to girl it up a bit. And since it snowed AGAIN in New York, a nice warm drive through the desert seems like a good idea - what could possibly go wrong?
Birthday SHOUT-out (or should that be SHOOT-out?) #6 tonight, to Geena Davis (last seen in "Stuart Little"), born 1/21/56.
THE PLOT: An Arkansas waitress and a housewife shoot a rapist and take off in a '66 Thunderbird.
AFTER: As with "A Perfect World", there's a set-up here, and an ending, and what feels like a lot of filler/extender in-between. And that filler mostly involves men being a-holes. All right girls, you pegged us. Geez, never has feminism been so manipulative.
NITPICK POINT #1: Louise's unwillingness to drive through Texas sure seems like a convenient...incovenience, shall we say. Clear sign of a plot extender.
NITPICK POINT #2: She heard a robber's spiel ONE time, and was able to repeat it, word for word, during a tense situation? I kinda doubt that.
NITPICK POINT #3: It sure didn't take much to turn these girls over to a life of crime - how close to the edge were they to begin with?
I think what bothers me about this film is the way which committing crimes is somehow linked with personal growth, or feminine assertiveness. It should be possible to practice "girl power", or learn to become comfortable with yourself, without acquiring a felony rap sheet. But the two go hand-in-hand here, as if it's the most natural thing in the world.
And then we have the ending - a textbook example of a writer painting herself into a corner. Sorry, but it's a cop-out no matter how you look at it. Or it's a rip-off of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", which might be worse. For fun, check out Robot Chicken's spoof that showed what happened to Thelma & Louise after the credits rolled.
Also starring Susan Sarandon (last seen in "The Witches of Eastwick"), Harvey Keitel (last seen in "Rising Sun"), Brad Pitt (last seen in "Inglourious Basterds"), Michael Madsen, Christopher MacDonald (last seen in "Superhero Movie"), Stephen Tobolowsky (last seen in "Great Balls of Fire!")
RATING: 4 out of 10 state troopers
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