THELMA & LOUISE (1991) (****)

Twenty years after its release Ridley Scott's female crime tale has become a part of the pop culture. But upon its release some critics called it as morally bankrupt as Hollywood can get. The film was attacked for being too violent and man bashing. And yet the film emerged as a strong statement on female empowerment.

Thelma (Gina Davis, THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST) is an Arkansas housewife and her best friend Louise (Susan Sarandon, DEAD MAN WALKING) is a waitress. They have planned a weekend getaway to the mountains. Louise is trying to put some distance between her and her boyfriend Jimmy (Michael Madsen, KILL BILL) for a bit. Thelma doesn't even ask her husband Darryl (Christopher McDonald, QUIZ SHOW), because she knows the controlling jerk won't let her go anyway.

Along the way, Thelma and Louise stop off at the Silver Bullet bar for a bite to eat. They have a few drinks. Thelma starts to dance with the charming Harlan (Timothy Carhart, WITNESS) and later they go out into the parking lot for some air. Harlan tries to rape her, but Louise puts a gun to his head. As the women go to leave, Harlan says he should have just gone and done it anyway. Louise shoots him. From this moment, the duo is on the run, heading to Mexico.

Callie Khouri's script makes the situation worse for Thelma and Louise each time they think they might be getting ahead. For these women, the cards are all low and mismatched, but they keep scraping by in order to survive. Now as a man I can only speculate as to what a woman responds to in the film, but I know as a human what I respond to. The women have been put upon by male society their whole lives. With the rapist, something snaps with Louise and over time with Thelma too. They're mad as hell and they're not taking it anymore.

As for the criticisms, they don't hold up. When it comes to the violence, a rapist is killed and that's it. Oh, a truck is blown up and a gas station is robbed too. This is more morally corrupt than all the police Bonnie and Clyde shot up? As for the male bashing claim, I can see where the complaint comes from, because of the nearly cartoonish Darryl and truck driver and how the women are taken advantage of by Harlan and the handsome drifter J.D. (Brad Pitt, 12 MONKEYS). But what about the sympathetic police officer Hal, played by Harvey Keitel (PULP FICTION)? And Jimmy is a pretty stand-up guy, despite a bit of an anger issue.

In 1991, America wasn’t ready for two suburban women turned outlaws. The women lash out at two men. The first is the rapist and it’s out of fear. The second is the truck driver and it’s out of empowerment. Take note to what Louise asks the truck driver. She’s trying to make sense of every crappy thing a man has ever done to her, because she was a woman. By this time Thelma has completely transformed into a badass. If she’s going to go out, she’s going to go out carefree.

Sarandon and Davis are perfectly matched to their roles. Sarandon plays Louise as a woman struggling with something so disruptive in her past that she has to organize everything she can to keep balanced. But there is a moment when she can't handle the pressure anymore. This is where Thelma has to step up. But is this bubbly woman up to the challenge? While it's hard to see anyone else playing Louise like Sarandon, it's nearly impossible to see someone other than Davis as Thelma. Like she did in ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, she creates a truly unique character. She's flighty, but not stupid. She's fallen into a routine with her husband, but she's not completely ruled over by him. As Davis plays her, she's a woman who was married and settled down in life before she even knew what she wanted from life.

With the assistance of great subtle costume and make-up changes over time, the actresses transform. Take note to how they dressed and appear at the start of the trip and how they look at the end. It's pretty drastic. Scott does a great job with making these big changes seem natural. He's keenly aware of all the details. With cinematographer Adrian Biddle, he creates a rustic painterly quality to the images that becomes a character in and of itself. Set in the desert, it's really a modern Western, just with a Thunderbird instead of horses.

If you really look at what happens to Thelma and Louise it’s pretty depressing. But that’s not how the film frames it. Action and humor are woven together seamlessly. The women persevere through it all, finding themselves along their road trip. Their lives would be fundamentally changed for the better if it weren’t for the murder and other crimes hanging over them. But we forgive them those crimes, because we understand where each one is coming from. The whole spirit of the story is freedom. Freedom from the law. Freedom from the rut of life. Freedom from our pasts.