Fans of the Coen brothers might know Ethan Coen from some of his hit films such as “No Country for Old Men,” “Fargo” or even “The Big Lebowski.” With a track record of films that mix well-known actors with Southern culture, it was no surprise that he would direct “Drive-Away Dolls.”
The duo — who would usually produce films together — have been releasing solo projects since Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” This film was listed as Ethan Coen’s first solo directing project.
“Drive-Away Dolls” was announced back in 2007, but lacked the funding needed at the time. The film was then reannounced in 2022 with a new title, cast and working plot.
“There aren’t a lot of lesbian genre movies, certainly not back then. I wanted to make a movie that was light-hearted and had a happy ending and felt free and fun. That didn’t exist in the lesbian film world,” Tricia Cooke, co-writer and producer of the film, said in an interview with the Associated Press.
The film itself is a road trip gone awry following two main characters, Margaret Qualley as Jamie, the charismatic adventurer who starts off the film by cheating on her girlfriend, and Geraldine Viswanathan as Marian, a quiet reader and exact opposite of Jamie.
The two best friends have to go from Philadelphia to Tallahassee in one night to deliver a car and, subsequently, a mysterious package that the pair does not know is under the spare tire.
The pair’s relationship consists of Jamie pushing Marian to her limit and the two bickering. Despite the turmoil, the pair are still willing to do anything for each other.
While Marian attempts to finish off the delivery, Jamie ends up spending her time attempting to get Marian to loosen up by going to lesbian bars, but the plan backfires and Marian is forced to read at a nearby bus stop as Jamie brings another girl back to their motel room.
While all of this is going on, the two are unknowingly being hunted down by three criminals who were scheduled to pick up the car in the first place before the mix-up happened.
As the adventure continues, the car gets a flat tire and the two end up finding the mysterious package — a severed head and a briefcase.
The relationship between Jamie and Marian gets explored as well as the two go from being best friends to sleeping together.
The movie as a whole is a weird trip that I found to be entertaining. It stacked a humorous main plot with a humorous side plot and allowed for great line deliveries and some random actor cameos.
Such examples include Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal, Miley Cyrus, Colman Domingo and Beanie Feldstein. While some had more screen time than others, these roles added a different feel to the movie than it would have had otherwise.
The film had a plot that was just for entertainment purposes and, honestly, I think that made it better. It didn’t take itself seriously at all.
“There’s an underserved audience for unimportant movies, is our belief. God. Don’t you want to go to a movie,” Coen said in an interview with IndieWire.
If you’re looking for a wild ride in a shorter movie, I say give this movie a watch.
