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Reviews
Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge by Becky Aikman
angelasbookclub's review
5.0
I'm a BIG fan of Thelma & Louise, but even bigger fan of film history. I hate when nonfiction books don't flow and are inundated with boring, droll, unnecessary facts. Aikman's writing flowed so well that you kept wanting to read more. Not only does this book take you step by step behind the whole development, production, and reception of the T&L, but it also dives deep into the struggle that women in Hollywood deal with STILL to this day. Great read for film buffs.
kellyhager's review against another edition
5.0
I first saw Thelma & Louise when I was 12 or so. I remember renting it the first weekend it was available (at my local Blockbuster--this was back in the days when one did such things), and I didn't know much about it. But I liked Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon (I had already seen The Fly and Bull Durham; my parents were very liberal about what I watched), and I loved the movie immediately.
I don't think I could have articulated why then, but now I realize that I love the fact that--while there are guys in the movie and some of them are good or great guys and some of them are complete jerks--the movie is about their friendship. It was probably the first movie I had ever seen (and there haven't been that many since, either) where the guys were in the background and the women were centerstage. It felt like a bit of a revelation, and it still does.
I like to think of myself as a Louise (in fact, one of my mantras was stolen from her---the unsympathetic but no less true "You get what you settle for") but I'm probably slightly more of a Thelma. I can be scattered and I may not be the best person around in a crisis. Honestly, though, I'd be incredibly proud to be either of them.
But that all doesn't matter. If you love Thelma & Louise (or movies in general), you need this book. It's so well-written and thorough and I feel like I love the movie even more now. And, of course, it's always great when people are passionate about the same things I'm passionate about--and people were so passionate about this, and still are--even decades later.
Highly recommended.
I don't think I could have articulated why then, but now I realize that I love the fact that--while there are guys in the movie and some of them are good or great guys and some of them are complete jerks--the movie is about their friendship. It was probably the first movie I had ever seen (and there haven't been that many since, either) where the guys were in the background and the women were centerstage. It felt like a bit of a revelation, and it still does.
I like to think of myself as a Louise (in fact, one of my mantras was stolen from her---the unsympathetic but no less true "You get what you settle for") but I'm probably slightly more of a Thelma. I can be scattered and I may not be the best person around in a crisis. Honestly, though, I'd be incredibly proud to be either of them.
But that all doesn't matter. If you love Thelma & Louise (or movies in general), you need this book. It's so well-written and thorough and I feel like I love the movie even more now. And, of course, it's always great when people are passionate about the same things I'm passionate about--and people were so passionate about this, and still are--even decades later.
Highly recommended.
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