Directed by:
Ethan CoenCinematography:
Ari WegnerComposer:
Carter BurwellCast:
Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Joey Slotnick, C.J. Wilson, Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal, Bill Camp, Matt Damon, Connie Jackson (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Written by Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke, this comedy caper follows Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way. (Focus Features)
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Reviews (3)
It’s a running joke, but it’s appropriate. Another film that looks like it was made by the hacked Twitter account of a famous filmmaker. I expected some dry and stiff directing, and I got a truly large portion of it. From the first scene, Ethan absolutely misses the mark. Drive-Away Dolls is dumb, devoid of timing, with no point. The verbal ping pong between the annoying characters has none of the rhythm or nuance to which we are accustomed from the Coen brothers; rather, the unlikable characters juggle stiff phrases and dialects. The trademarks are here (coincidences, statues, a hallucinogenic intermezzo), but they’re so haphazardly put together, in a weak story no less, that this screwball comedy seems like a lesbian version of Dumb and Dumber, but without the humour. Furthermore, the whole thing is dated. A queer comedy in which the female protagonists are rather like male teenagers in their fondness for vulvas and penetration, Thelma and Louise castrating the patriarchy with tragic clumsiness and literalness. I feel that my favourite brothers have never stooped to this level and I strongly hope that they never will. Better to have five more Shakespeares from Joel, please!
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Coen obviously slept through the times, because coming up with this in this day and age had no chance of succeeding from the start. We have here a lesbian crime drama where two girls borrow a rental car and drive to Florida to take a break and kiss some women along the way, but they have something in the trunk that two gangsters are looking for and want back. The contents of the suitcase are pretty good, but I thought it was stupid to base a whole movie on that. Pedro Pascal and Matt Damon only have very brief cameos, so clickbait, but Margaret Qualley's performance is excellent, the pair of gangsters are straight out of the 90's, and the black humour is occasionally good. All in all, a dud of a watch with no higher ambitions that didn't completely offend but at the same time didn't thrill. Pure average. Love Lies Bleeding will be very different 5/10.
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If Drive-Away Dolls had been made by someone else and I could have criticized them for imitating the Coens, it would have been better. Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke do their best, but I still felt like I'd seen most of the movie before and not much surprised me except the contents of the briefcase. Plus, Margaret Qualley pushed the envelope a little too hard in my opinion.
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