Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Only now does it occur to me... THELMA AND LOUISE

Only now does it occur to me...  that the highlight of THELMA AND LOUISE is not when they drive off the cliff together, nor is when they blow up the tanker–
 
 
(although, now that I mention it, it miiight be when they blow up the tanker...)

but in fact it is the subtle pleasure of watching Harvey Keitel beat Brad Pitt about the head and neck...
 
 
 
...with his own cowboy hat.











THWACK
THWACKK
THWACCCCCKK!

As I say, it's a subtle joy, and one that's amplified by the fact that Keitel isn't really given that much to do in this movie otherwise.  Though I suppose it's more than pleasant to see him exchange Geena-Davis-and-Susan-Sarandon-hunting strategies with the legendary Stephen "Ned Ryerson" Toblowsky.
  
As I said, it's the little things.  Also– I must say that THELMA AND LOUISE makes a fine "homoerotic, adrenaline-fueled summer movies of 1991" double-feature with POINT BREAK. 

3 comments:

SFF said...

Hysterical. Yeah, it might be the tanker. At least, that's my vote.

I actually love this film. I'm always enjoying it when I see it.

I love the scene when the girls are in the parking lot after the bar too. That's classic.

We've been out there on the blogosphere talking a great deal about Prometheus and the idea of freedom and breaking free of contraints parental or otherwise, but Thelma and Louise is a great film regarding freedom. Love it. Best, SFF

Unknown said...

I also like the casting of Michael Madsen as the sympathetic boyfriend. He takes a thankless role and makes it something special with the limited amount of screen time that he has.

Sean Gill said...

SFF,
Glad you enjoyed. I often joke about films such as this and POINT BREAK, but they're damn fine movies for a summer night. I haven't seen PROMETHEUS yet, but may I assume that it ends with Harvey Keitel chasing after a spaceship as it flies into the Grand Canyon?

J.D.,

Right on about Madsen; he may appear in a fair amount of dreck where he phones in his performances (a fact which I seem to recall him admitting), but when he's fully committed, the man is 'ON.'