Leaving Normal

Thelma & Louise without the turbo charge, this never seems certain where it's going. When Darly & Marianne set out on their voyage of self-discovery, their lives are a mess. Lahti's Darly is a brassy barmaid, as capable of putting her drunken customers down ('It takes more than two fingers to make me come') as of fireman's-lifting them outside. She seems to know where she's going, especially in comparison to Tilly's little-girl-lost Marianne. But on the road from Normal (Wyoming) to Alaska, it becomes clear that both are dominated by unresolved pain and unsuccessful relationships. The script, from Bill and Ted writer Edward Solomon, is full of detours where we meet enjoyably surreal supporting players who seem to have wandered in from a Lynch or a Waters movie. Solomon also supplies sharp lines, mostly to Lahti, who delivers them with great style. But there is a spurious mystical element, and this shunts the film off track in the direction of sentimentality, despite its quirky charm and photogenic locations.