Monday, May 25, 2015

Thelma & Louise, R. I. P.


It’s almost 25 years since “Thelma & Louise” hit the big screen in May 1991 and instantly became a hit, with sublimely paired performances by Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis. Callie Khouri won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.


T&L has big bawdy action, two all-American rough-and-ready heroines—Sarandon shoots the bad guy in the chest, just like that, a righteous shoot if ever there was one—and a searing final scene that tears your heart out.

T&L is crazy and unbelievable, with a sophomoric silliness about the plot twists, and the spectacular you-didn’t-see-it-coming ending that defies straight thinking.

I think T&L is a captivating invitation to do some serious out-of-the-box sympathizing with two women who finally get some potent excitement in their lives, who are tired of getting the crappy end of the stick, who know with depressing exactitude just exactly where they were going right and just exactly where they went wrong, who understand that Harvey the cop wants to help them, who realize that the only help they’re going to get is from each other, who finally understand that holding hands and pedal-to-the-metal is as good as it gets….


I think “Thelma & Louise” demands respect, I think it gives every viewer a chance to think hard about what’s-good-in-my-life, I think it opens a window for every viewer to imagine what it would be like to finally have it all, with someone you love, if ever so briefly, even in mid-air….


The Graduate....once is enough




Brokeback Mountain

Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2015 All rights reserved.

No comments:

Post a Comment