While this road trip movie isn't as good as Thelma and Louise, it really shouldn't be compared. The two films are very different. While Thelma and Louise are on the run the police, Mary Ann and Darly (the two main characters of Leaving Normal) are only on the run from themselves. Meg Tilly and Christine Lahti play the title characters with just the right touches of naivete and cynicism. Mary Ann is leaving a bad marriage (her second) and Darly is heading to Alaska to reclaim land from an earlier marriage. Their paths merge in Normal, Wyoming and they set out on a road trip that changes both of them. A few of the scenes (thankfully very few) don't seem to work - almost as if they were added for comic effect. Both actresses give great performances. If you can overlook a few plot problems (their new overweight friend Sixty-six seems to find a rich man and leaves all of her belongings behind with Mary Ann and Darly all in the same day) I think you'll find this movie to be an enjoyable and touching tale. The tag line of the movie is: Sometimes the only way to find where you're going is to lose your way. I don't know about you, but in my life that has been true more than a few times. Oh, be sure not to miss the best scene in the whole film. When returning to their car with coolant after it has overheated to find the car stripped and their possessions strewn everywhere Mary Ann (always trying to believe things will work out) says, "We'll still get there. We'll still get to Alaska." Cynical Darly gets the best line in the film, "You're just like a punching bag aren't you, Mary Ann? Knock you down and you get back up. I bet you're one of those people who say when life gives you lemons make lemonade. Well, guess what, sweetheart, life hasn't given us lemons, it's given us SHIT!" I laughed so hard the first time I watched this scene and it's still a line I quote on one of those days when nothing seems to go right. Rent this movie and you won't be sorry.
