Movie Review: Drive-Away Dolls

In 2019, Joel and Ethan Coen, the award-winning filmmaking brothers behind such films as Raising Arizona, Fargo, and The Big Lebowski, announced that they were splitting up because Ethan Coen was “giving movies a rest” and wanted to focus on stage plays and did not want to work on Joel’s next project, The Tragedy of Macbeth. Ethan has now returned to the directors’ chair with Drive-Away Dolls, a zany lesbian road-trip movie that felt like an imitation of a Coen brother movie than an actual one.

Drive-Away Dolls takes place in 1999 and finds two friends, Jamie (Margarette Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), two women looking for a fresh start. Jamie’s relationship with her girlfriend (Beanie Feldstein) just ended and she’s looking to explore. Marian is looking to relax and find a path in life. They decide to take a trip to Tallahassee, Florida, and do so by being drive-away drivers, where someone can transport a car from one location to another. The two women are given a car that was meant for two mobsters, and they quickly find themselves entangled in a plot with criminals, politicians, and a missing head.

Where The Tragedy of Macbeth felt like a complete diversion of a Coen brother film, Drive-Away Dolls hits a lot of classic Coen staples we have come used to seeing from them. It’s a classic “wrong place, wrong guy” that we have seen in several Coen movies like The Big Lebowski and Burn After Reading as a simple case of miscommunication leads to unforeseen events that are way out of our main characters league. It’s a period piece, a road trip movie, and a buddy movie, as well as a zany comedy wrapped in a coming-of-age story and a crime story. These are all staples of what made a lot of the Coen movies great films.

While it might seem like Drive-Away Dolls is just another Coen comedy, the film felt more like an imitation of one of their films, which is surprising seeing as one of the Coen’s was behind the writing and directing of the film. Visually the movie is flat and lacks any sort of creativity. The film’s plot zips along at a rapid pace (the film runs under 90 minutes, not that I’m complaining) and barely gives any depth to its characters. The randomness is a bit too random and erratic and the setting of the film in 1999 was not utilized well and seemed like it was only set there so that there would be no use of cell phones in the movie, which would have solved everything very quickly.

What keeps the film on track are the two lead performances by Qualley and Viswanathan. Qualley is a great leading Coen idiot, reminiscent of George Clooney’s Evertt McGill in O Brother, Where Art Thou?. She’s fast-talking, confident, equal parts dumb and brilliant, but has a good heart to make up for all her flaws. Qualley delivers zinger after zinger with perfect rhythm and timing. Viswanathan anchors the film’s emotional center as a woman who is trying to find herself on this road trip. She delivers all of the film’s heart while also getting to showcase her comedic timing as well. She and Qualley have wonderful chemistry together and keep the movie on rails when it’s about to fall off and keep it interesting when it isn’t.

Just before the release of Drive-Away Dolls, it was teased that the Coen brothers would be reuniting for a film. As a fan of their work, I could not be happier. While Joel and Ethan’s solo efforts were interesting and insightful as to what each Coen brought to each film (Joel brought the style and control, Ethan brought the attitude and humor), the two together are one of the greatest directing duos ever. So while I appreciate them trying to do their own thing, two is better than one, as the adage goes.

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