Leaving Normal

source: Leaving Normal

Christine Lahti is an underrated and understated jewel of a character actress, despite much of the cliche she has been given to work with here. Much the same can be said for Meg Tilly, although she's given a bit more freedom to be slightly more enigmatic playing the younger character beset with different troubles. Leaving Normal reminds me of a few earlier nineties films, and that's not a problem at all. Whilst Thelma & Louise is hard to put out of mind, beyond the basic premise of two women on a road-trip in the early '90s, this film fulfills more of the quirk and whimsical aspects of that era of movie making, rather than anything truly gritty.

Road trip film, stars meg tilly and christine lahti. Thelma and louise had just come out the year before, although they had trouble with the law in that one! In normal, marianne leaves her abusive husband, and .joins darly, who is going to alaska to reclaim her family property. They meet characters and learn lessons along the way. Good ones and painful ones. A lot of talk of fate. Choosing your path, or lettng life take you where it will. Fun ending. Quite different than thelma and louise. Good stuff. Directed by ed zwick. Won the oscar for shakespeare in love. Written by ed solomon, who also did men in black, bill & ted.

I saw Leaving Normal during its original theatrical release and watched it again recently after purchasing the film on DVD. My friends and I really enjoyed this film when we saw it back in 1992, when we were big into early 90s quirk with films like What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Gas Food Lodging, Simple Men and Surviving Desire. Leaving Normal fits quite neatly into this group of films. It also reminds me of one of my all-time favorite and most watched films, which also happens to be a story about an unlikely female friendship, Bagdad Cafe (1987). It's difficult for me to assess Leaving Normal with any sense of objectivity. When I watched it again recently, I was overcome with a sense of nostalgia for the early 90s when I was in my early 20s and was yet to make some pretty dumb decisions with my life (it all turned out okay though). I don't think the film has aged especially well (I'm thinking about some shoddy matte paintings) and its quirkiness may just annoy some people, but it has enough to offer the casual viewer to be entertaining. If you are fortunate enough to be open to its sincere message about the universe having a place for everyone (if we will just let go and allow ourselves), then you may find that you bond with Marianne and Darly and all the offbeat characters they meet on their journey towards wholeness. You may then find that you make a space for this little film in your heart, like most of the other reviewers on this site.

Marianne (Meg Tilly) had many last names and a roaming mother. She eagerly arrives at Normal, Wyoming as the wife to Curtis Johnson. She leaves after he hits her. She's tired of her nomadic life. Darly Peters (Christine Lahti) is a waitress, former *, and part Eskimo who is going to Alaska to claim a home that her ex-husband had supposedly built. She gives Marianne a ride to Marianne's conservative sister Emily Singer in Portland. Marianne decides to run off with Darly to Alaska. After their car gets trashed, they hitchhike with truckers Harrison Rainey and Leon (Maury Chaykin). They run off on the guys and find waitress 66. It's a sort of Thelma and Louise without explosions, Brad Pitt, or police chases. Meg Tilly does her damaged character and Lahti does her sassy brash character. They are a good duo. The story is a bit rambling. Once they get to Alaska, the story loses its kinetic drive.

The first time I saw this movie I was unsure if I would like it. I just saw it sitting on the shelf in my local video store and it intrigued me. I rented it, took it home, and popped it into the VCR. I sat back and was taken to another place. I laughed. I cried. I became a part of the story. No other movie has affected me in such a way. I find that dialog from the movie has worked it's way into my everyday speech patterns. I find myself wanting to make a journey where I make no decisions, where fate takes me where it will. I find myself laughing every time I see "flan". I highly recommend this movie to everyone, not just women. It is sweet and tender and hard and real all at the same time. Just watch it. You will love it!!!

I first watched this movie on Lifetime and found the story moving and satisfying. Who hasn't made mistakes in their life and felt like just chucking all of the decisions and leaving it to chance. This movie is about two wanderers. One a cynic, and one naive and too trusting. It is about friends taking the chance at finding happiness. I wish that this movie was more well known. Another in a long list that I wish were on DVD. I will transfer my difficult to find copy myself. A more upbeat "Thelma and Louise". One of my favorite almost unknown movies. I wish that this had been the women's empowerment movie of the 90's instead of "Thelma and Louise". These characters are much more real.

I only saw 'Leaving Normal' because it was on Sky TV one night and there was nothing else on, so, I decided to watch it. I wasn't expecting much of it, as most things on that last at night are usually things that are too boring to be on earlier. However, I was very surprised by it, I actually enjoyed it. It's a story about the friendship between Darly and Marianne, who met at a bus-stop after Marianne ran away from her abusive husband. Darly is going to Alaska and decided to take Marianne along with her, sort of like a daughter figure. Marianne always likes to look on the bright side of things which leads her into bad situations. Darly is assertive but good-natured, she means well. And because she was so witty it made the film much more enjoyable. The first half of the movie is a road-movie, Which consist of the troubles they face of trying to get to their destination, and when they get there, they want to leave, at least Darly does. It's a light-hearted drama and all ends well. Worth a watch.

When I watched Leaving Normal, I found that Meg Tilly and Christine Lahti made the perfect best friend team. Tilly and Lenny von Dohlen made the perfect couple, yet funny with it. Von Dohlen has some funny moments and he is very, very sweet with it (especially when he's crying in the truck after reading a sad story). This a very underrated movie that has an excellent cast.