Thelma and Louise

FADE IN:

INT. RESTAURANT - MORNING (PRESENT DAY)

LOUISE is a waitress in a coffee shop. She is in her early-

thirties, but too old to be doing this. She is very pretty

and meticulously groomed, even at the end of her shift. She

is slamming dirty coffee cups from the counter into a bus

tray underneath the counter. It is making a lot of RACKET,

which she is oblivious to. There is COUNTRY MUZAK in the

b.g., which she hums along with.

INT. THELMA'S KITCHEN - MORNING

THELMA is a housewife. It's morning and she is slamming

coffee cups from the breakfast table into the kitchen sink,

which is full of dirty breakfast dishes and some stuff left

from last night's dinner which had to "soak". She is still

in her nightgown. The TV is ON in the b.g.

From the kitchen, we can see an incomplete wallpapering

project going on in the dining room, an obvious "do-it-

yourself" attempt by Thelma.

INT. RESTAURANT - MORNING

Louise goes to the pay phone and dials a number.

INT. THELMA'S KITCHEN - MORNING

Phone RINGS. Thelma goes over to answer it.

THELMA:

(hollering)

I got it! Hello.

INT. RESTAURANT - MORNING

LOUISE:

(at pay phone)

I hope you're packed, little

housewife, 'cause we are outta her

tonight.

INT. THELMA'S KITCHEN - MORNING

THELMA:

Well, wait now. I still have to ask

Darryl if I can go.

LOUISE (V.O.)

You mean you haven't asked him yet?

For Christ sake, Thelma, is he your

husband or your father? It's just

two days. For God's sake, Thelma.

Don't be a child. Just tell him

you're goin' with me, for cryin' out

loud. Tell him I'm havin' a nervous

breakdown.

Thelma has the phone tucked under her chin, as she cuts out

coupons from the newspaper and pins them on a bulletin board

already covered with them. We see various recipes torn out

from women's magazines along the lines of "101 Ways to Cook

Pork."

THELMA:

He already thinks you're out of your

mind, Louise, that don't carry much

weight with Darryl. Are you at work?

LOUISE (V.O.)

No, I'm callin' from the Playboy

Mansion.

THELMA:

I'll call you right back.

Thelma goes through the living room to the bottom of the

stairs and leans on the banister.

THELMA:

Darryl! Honey, you'd better hurry

up.

DARRYL comes trotting down the stairs. Polyester was made

for this man, and he's dripping in "men's" jewelry. He

manages a Carpeteria.

DARRYL:

Damnit, Thelma, don't holler like

that! Haven't I told you I can't

stand it when you holler in the

morning.

THELMA:

I'm sorry, Doll, I just didn't want

you to be late.

Darryl is checking himself out in the hall mirror, and

it's obvious he likes what he sees. He exudes over-confidence

for reasons that never become apparent. He likes to think

of himself as a real lady killer.

He is making imperceptible adjustments to his over-moussed

hair. Thelma watches approvingly.

THELMA:

Hon.

DARRYL:

What.

THELMA:

(she decides not to

tell him)

Have a good day at work today.

DARRYL:

Uh-huh.

THELMA:

Hon?

DARRYL:

What?!

THELMA:

You want anything special for dinner?

DARRYL:

No, Thelma, I don't give a sh*t what

we have for dinner. I may not even

make it home for dinner. You know

how Fridays are.

THELMA:

Funny how so many people wanna buy

carpet on a Friday night. You'd

almost think they's want to forget

about it for the weekend.

DARRYL:

Well then, it's a good thing you're

not regional manager and I am.

He's finally ready. He walks to the door and gives Thelma

the most perfunctory kiss on the cheek.

THELMA:

'Bye, honey. I won't wait up.

DARRYL:

See ya.

Darryl leaves. We see his Corvette parked out front. As he

closes the front door, Thelma leans against it.

THELMA:

He's gonna sh*t.

Thelma laughs to herself. She goes back into the kitchen

and picks up the phone and dials it.

INT. RESTAURANT - MORNING

The pay phone on the wall RINGS. ALBERT, a busboy in his

50's, answers.

ALBERT:

Good morning. Why, yes, she is. Is

this Thelma? Oh, Thelma, when you

gonna run away with me?

Louise comes over and takes the phone out of his hand.

LOUISE:

(to Albert)

Not this weekend, sweetie, she's

runnin' away with me.

(into phone)

Hi. What'd he say?

THELMA (V.O.)

What time are you gonna pick me up?

LOUISE:

You're kiddin'! Alright! I'll be

there around two or three.

THELMA (V.O.)

What kind of stuff do I bring?

LOUISE:

I don't know. Warm stuff, I guess.

It's the mountains. I guess it gets

cold at night. I'm just gonna bring

everything.

THELMA (V.O.)

Okay. I will, too.

LOUISE:

And steal Darryl's fishin' stuff.

THELMA (V.O.)

I don't know how to fish, Louise.

LOUISE:

Neither do I, Thelma, but Darryl

does it, how hard can it be? I'll

see you later. Be ready.

They both hang up.

EXT. RESTAURANT - DAY

Louise pulls out in a green '66 T-Bird in mint condition.

INT. THELMA'S BEDROOM - CLOSEUP - SUITCASE ON BED - DAY

Going into the suitcase is bathing suits, wool socks, flannel

pajamas, jeans, sweaters, T-shirts, a couple of dresses, way

too much stuff for a two-day trip. REVEAL Thelma, standing

in front of a closet, trying to decide what else to bring,

as if she's forgotten something. The room looks like it was

decorated entirely from a Sears catalog. It's really frilly.

INT. LOUISE'S BEDROOM - CLOSEUP - SUITCASE ON BED - DAY

A perfectly ordered suitcase, everything neatly folded and

orderly. Three pairs of underwear, one pair of long

underwear, two pairs of pants, two sweaters, one furry robe,

one nightgown. She could be packing for camp.

REVEAL Louise. Her room is as orderly as the suitcase.

Everything matches. It's not quite as frilly as Thelma's,

but it is of the same ilk. She is debating whether to take

an extra pair of socks. She decides not to and closes the

suitcase. She goes to the phone, picks it up and dials. We

hear:

ANSWERING MACHINE (V.O.)

Hi. This is Jimmy. I'm not here

right now, but I'll probably be back

'cause... all my stuff's here. Leave

a message.

Louise slams down the phone. A framed picture of Louise and

Jimmy sits on the table next to the phone. She matter-of-

factly slams that face down, too.

INT. THELMA'S BEDROOM - DAY

Thelma is still throwing stuff in, randomly now. She talks

to herself quietly the whole time.

She is taking stuff off of her nightstand, a small clock,

fingernail scissors, etc.

She opens the drawer of her nightstand. Her attitude is

purposeful; she looks as if she knows exactly what she's

doing; although, frankly, she has no idea, and each decision

is completely arbitrary. As she rifles through it, plucking

various items from among the jumbled contents, we see there

is a gun in there, one Darryl bought her for protection. It

is unloaded, but there is a box of bullets. She picks up

the gun like it's a rat by the tail and puts it in her purse.

THELMA:

(muttering to herself)

Psycho killers...

She grabs the box of bullets and throws them in, too. She

tries to close her suitcase, but there is stuff hanging out

all over the place. She stuffs things back in the sides and

heaves all her weight against the top.

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