Drive-Away Dolls (Ethan Coen, 2024)
Drive-Away Dolls is a rather disappointing road movie slash crime comedy, directed by Ethan Coen and written by the Coen Brother and his wife Tricia Cooke.
It tells the story of two young women, Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), who both feel the need to get out of town for a while.
The vivacious Jamie has just broken up with her latest girlfriend, feisty policewoman Suki (Beanie Feldstein), while soft-spoken Marian hasn’t gotten laid since she broke up with her own girlfriend years ago.
To save some money the duo agree to drive a Drive Away car to Tallahassee, where it will be picked up by the rightful owner. Little do they know what is hidden in the back of the car, but when they decide to take the long way around, and spend a couple of days extra on the road, they soon become the target of some criminal goons (Joel Slotnick and C.J. Wilson) led by The Chief (Colman Domingo) who want their macabre belongings back.
I’m sure there is a great little b-movie hidden inside Drive-Away Dolls, but I haven’t been able to find it. Comedy is very personal and if you laugh all the way through this mediocre jumble than I’m happy for you.
I just couldn’t get in on the joke. I’m fine with the whole feminist angle, but for a movie that takes place in 1999, it often feels like a lesser version of the indie movies made around that time. I feel that its sexual politics could have been a lot edgier, especially compared to a movie like last year’s amazing Joy Ride by Adele Lim.
To add to this, both acting and direction come across as pretty uneven, while the writing is just pretty predictable in all its supposed unpredictability. Characters and dialogue are supposed to be quirky in a Coen Brothers kind of way, but it honestly feels like some pale imitation of the real deal. Not even cameos by Pedro Pascal and Matt Damon can save this thing.
I’m sorry to report this, especially since I’m a major Coen Brothers admirer, but I’m not going to get too upset about it. The Coens have made some of my all-time favorite movies - from Fargo and Big Lebowski to A Serious Man and Inside Lwellyn Davis - and I just hope that the news is true that Joel and Ethan are starting a new project together.
After a number of years apart doing their own thing it really feels like it’s time to bring the band back together.
Note: Drive-Away Dolls is released this week in the United States, Brazil, The Netherlands, etc., with other countries (like Germany, France and the United Kingdom) to follow throughout March.