Drive-Away Dolls – A Pleasantly Silly Throwback (Early Review)

Following the Coen Brothers’ temporary split, Joel Coen directed 2021’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, a dramatic affair that was far more serious than the duo’s usual work but one that proved quite successful, garnering critical acclaim across the board. Now, it’s Ethan Coen’s turn to see how he does as a solo writer/director with Drive-Away Dolls, the first of a planned “lesbian B-movie road trip” trilogy. From the opening scene, audiences will immediately be struck by the stark tonal and stylistic shift from his brother’s first solo effort and the pair’s more recent films. This film is a deliriously silly, over-the-top, and campy comedy that is reminiscent of the early Coen Brothers films such as Crimewave, Raising Arizona, Hudsucker Proxy and The Big Lebowski, but even sillier than those aforementioned films.

Drive-Away Dolls stars Margaret Qualley as Jamie, a very free spirited woman looking for a new home after being kicked out by her angry cop girlfriend Sukie (Beanie Feldstein), and Geraldine Viswanathan as Jamie’s friend Marian, a far more closed off and uptight person. The film follows the two as they set out on a road trip down south to Tallahassee, not before an unfortunate mixup at at a car rental agency. Unbeknownst to Jamie and Marian, they also happened to be carrying a heavily sought after briefcase in the trunk of their car that put their lives at great risk. Being a Coen film, the henchman are inept, the banter is witty, the dialogue is a mile a minute, and there are several memorably odd side characters along the way. At its core, the film is a genuinely sweet budding romance.

What separates this from other Coen films is its depth and overall tone. Without accounting for the end credits, this film runs under 80 minutes which keeps things moving at a decent clip but as a result, the story and characters are thinner than usual. One could argue that the film isn’t going for anything more than its surface level comedy and charm but what it needed is more to chew on to become invested in this world. There’s a clear dramatic heft missing from the proceedings as any tension or drama is generally played for laughs. It is a deliberately slight film which is both its greatest asset as its heightened tone and silly story don’t overstay their welcome but holds it back from hitting the heights of Ethan Coen’s past work.

The cast is all game for this material, with Viswanathan as a particular highlight. Qualley continues to impress as she goes bigger and bawdier than ever before with a hilariously over the top Texan accent and a willingness to go as raunchy and wild as the script permits. Meanwhile, there are plenty of celebrity cameos from Pedro Pascal to Matt Damon who, despite brief appearances, are responsible for many of the film’s funniest moments. The film boasts a style and premise that is somewhat influenced by the sexploitation B-movies of the 1960s, specifically those directed by Russ Meyer, albeit with a more progressive slant. The homages made and psychedelic imagery in dream sequences and interludes are visually interesting at first but quickly grow awkward and repetitive in a way incongruous to the rest of the film’s overall vibe. The surreal imagery ultimately pays off narratively through an unexpected twist whose execution feels more like padding to break up the action and transition to the next section.

Running at only 84 minutes, Drive-Away Dolls certainly doesn’t overstay its welcome as it consistently remains a humorous and pleasant romp but unlike the best Coen films, it lacks that extra oomph to drive it all home. That being said, its slight runtime is both a blessing and a curse as it never allows the film enough room to develop beyond surface level camp but for those just looking for some of that old school Coen charm, they will definitely find it here. Providing a decent number of laughs, it delivers a good enough time to warrant a recommendation.

still courtesy of Focus Features

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Alex Josevski

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