Drive-Away Dolls, 2024.
Directed by Ethan Coen.
Starring Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal, Matt Damon, Bill Camp, Joey Slotnick, C.J. Wilson, Connie Jackson, Annie Gonzalez, Sam Vartholomeos, Samsara Leela Yett, Layne Lazor, and Abby Hilden.
SYNOPSIS:
Jamie regrets her breakup with her girlfriend, while Marian needs to relax. In search of a fresh start, they embark on an unexpected road trip to Tallahassee. Things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals.
Technically two separate road trips in one film, Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls (marking his solo directorial debut following splitting up with brother Joel) functions as a hilarious look at two different yet somewhat similar dynamics of women and men bonding in cars on a ride to Tallahassee. Newly single Jamie (Margaret Qualley) has convinced her friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) to bring her along to visit her aunt, stopping at various points along the way to have fun and engage in the 1999 lesbian scene. While Jamie is looking for quick lookups, Marian is stressed out and hoping to unwind on this mini-vacation but is also disinterested in seeking out passionless, meaningless sex.
They find themselves acquiring a car through a drive-away job, set to deliver the vehicle (and unknowingly a hidden briefcase in the trunk) to Tallahassee, unaware that there are belongings to a group of violent yet bumbling mobsters serving as the middlemen to transport the goods to an important individual I won’t describe, but will say is played by Matt Damon in what amounts to a glorified, humorous cameo. This means that the secondary road trip follows a pair of goons (played by Joey Slotnick and C.J. Wilson, dimwitted murderers who feel ripped right from Fargo) who only find themselves increasingly getting more tense and heated toward one another. Meanwhile, Jamie and Marian converse and work things out, discovering some other exciting things about themselves along the way.
It is certainly tough to argue that a scattershot 84-minute sexually charged crime comedy is about something. Still, that juxtaposition in how men and women interact, especially under duress or in situations threatening to damage the connection, is certainly there and funny throughout as the film consistently swaps between characters. At its core, though, Drive-Away Dolls is concerned with kinky crude laughs as Jamie frequents whatever lesbian bars she can find on the road for sex, while Marian reasserts that this is not her lifestyle, retreating to the motel to read romantic novels.
The script (also from Ethan Coen and written alongside regular editing collaborator Tricia Cooke) is also sharp with sexual dialogue and raunchy jokes that are, unsurprisingly, multiple times funnier, considering that the filmmaker with a trademark for memorable accents also has Margaret Qualley putting on an over-the-top but strangely convincing southern accent. Naturally, when it comes to the goons on the tail, the dialogue is also side-splitting, with one of them repeatedly trying to convince the other of the right ways to socialize with non-criminals. Colman Domingo’s The Chief oversees their mission, mostly finding himself annoyed and amusingly, expressively annoyed, yelling at them over the phone for their screw-ups. Locating Jamie and Marian also briefly involves a stop at the former’s ex-girlfriend, a scene-stealing boisterous Beanie Feldstein prepared to defend herself.
There is much to appreciate in that Drive-Away Dolls is paced like a bat out of hell, with each scene barely lasting one minute but offering some new silly story development, but it’s also safe to say that one comes away wishing the entire supporting cast had more to do; they all crush their roles. Sometimes, the film moves so fast that the filmmakers don’t seem sure themselves hard to pivot from character to character, so they toss in some unnecessarily lengthy psychedelic acid trip visuals serving as transitions. This is a skeleton of a story that isn’t interested in character depth or profundity, which is also fine since it is damn funny.
With that said, the outrageousness of Drive-Away Dolls doesn’t fully take off until Ethan Coen and Trisha Cooke reveal what’s in the briefcase. For a moment, it feels as if this will be a Pulp Fiction scenario until the nutso displays what is being collected (Pedro Pascal also shows up in a cameo looking to acquire what is here.) What these characters are after assuredly sets the film apart from similar crime comedies (a subgenre that Ethan Coen has played a part in mastering over the past few decades), comes with potential commentary and conversation starters on something in an intriguing political context that fits the horny material here. It feels as if that surprise should have been highlighted earlier on to increase riotous momentum. Still, Drive-Away Dolls is a brisk blast high on sexual energy and style.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
