Without being fully aware of it, they are running away from the miserable lives that have been handed down to them, and searching for their lost freedom.Įven before Thelma has packed her suitcase, an obstacle comes in her way: She knows her husband, Darryl (Christopher McDonald), enough to not bother asking him for his permission to leave for a few days. Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon) aren’t simply going away for a weekend: Their trip isn’t as much about the journey as it is about the destination. Thelma & Louise, released on Memorial Day weekend in 1991, has all the key features of a road movie-two friends going on a trip, a car, sunny roads, some good and some bad encounters, and incredible vistas-but it isn’t quite escapist.
That’s why it makes sense that the warmest season of the year is the ideal time for road movies. Summer movies promise escapism and adventure once upon a time (and now once again), you would go see them at drive-ins on a hot night, with your date or your best friends. Welcome to The Ringer ’s Return to Summer Blockbuster Season, where we’ll feature different summer classics each week.
2020’s summer blockbuster season has been put on hold because of the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the movies from the past that we flocked out of the sun and into air conditioning for.
