‘Drive-Away Dolls’ Review: Ethan Coen Teams Up With Game Cast For Wacky Lesbian-Driven B-Movie Crime Comedy

Pete Hammond
·4 min read
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Director Ethan Coen – collaborating with wife Tricia Cooke instead of brother Joel – delivers a disposable but not entirely unentertaining lesbian-centered crime caper comedy in Drive-Away Dolls. With its raunchy sex and vivid violence, the film is more an affectionate tribute to hard R drive-in B movies that more resembles something from the mind of Russ Meyer than anything resembling smart, Oscar-y movies like the Coen Brothers’ No Country For Old Men, Big Lebowski, Barton Fink, Fargo, Blood Simple etc.

Drive-Away Dolls definitely retains the quirkiness of the Coen brand, but key inspirations this time were Meyers’ Motorpsycho, Bad Girls Go To Hell and even something really good like ’50s noir Kiss Me Deadly, with which it shares some plot details.

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But “plot” doesn’t really matter much here. Coen and Cooke throw everything against the wall to see what sticks. If it makes narrative sense, it likely is an accident. Coen isn’t a fan of authenticity when it comes to details.

I once asked him about the fact that his 1961-set Inside Llewyn Davis featured a scene where the characters were outside a theatre staring at a movie poster for 1963’s Disney film The Incredible Journey. He indicated he really didn’t care. Don’t let the facts get in the way, I guess. That the title of this film was originally to include a certain epithet for gay women tells you everything, but even Coen is subject to modern rules of decorum these days. Perhaps that is why this thing is period, set in 1999 and Y2K on the eve of the 2000 Presidential election.

Jamie (Margaret Qualley) is a free spirited, anything-goes lesbian getting over a breakup with take no prisoners tough cop Sukie (a hilarious Beanie Feldstein) who does not take their parting well, especially being stuck with the chihuahua she is determined to dump back in Jamie’s lap. Meanwhile Jamie is BFF to her complete personality-opposite Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) who is as uptight and drippy as they come. Where Jamie has never entered a lesbian bar she didn’t exploit to its fullest potential, Marian sits in the corner.

Needing to get away to Tallahassee, Jamie convinces Marian to turn it into a road trip with all the adventure that implies. Getting a car from shady dealer Curlie (the great Bill Camp) for the one-way trip, they are given a Dodge Aries that is just the beginning of their troubles. Turns out there is a briefcase in the trunk that moronic bad dudes Arliss (Joey Slotnick) and Flint (C.J. Wilson) are desperate to have, and when they come to pick up the car they are not happy at all to discover Curlie rented it to the girls.

The chase is on as this case is much desired by family values Senator Gary Channel (Matt Damon who turns up in the last act), and their smart Chief (Colman Domingo) is calling the shots to get it for him. So what is so valuable to this straight-laced politician? Let’s just say it has to do with his manhood.

Lots of stuff happens along the way as Jamie manages to get Marian to lighten up. You just know where this is all heading but there are some amusing moments to get us there. Also turning up, however briefly, is Pedro Pascal as Santos, and none other than Miley Cyrus as Tiffany Plastercaster, based on the notorious real-life Cynthia Plastercaster who made immortal the manhoods of Jimi Hendrix, Wayne Kramer and others.

To say this 84 minute trifle is instantly forgettable is not a harsh criticism. It is a lesser Coen effort, and apparently one influenced in style by wife Tricia, who identifies as a queer filmmaker and has worked in various capacities for the brothers in the ’90s and 2000s as editor on films like O Brother Where Art Thou? and The Big Lebowski. There is no question the pair have fun with this rolling roadshow, and even a minor Coen is worth a watch. Too bad drive-ins are no longer in vogue. Drive-Away Dolls is made for them, even if it isn’t that much better than the uber-low budget and exploitational real deals that inspired it.

Producers are Robert Graf, Tim Bevan & Eric Fellner, Coen, and Cooke.

Title: Drive-Away Dolls

Distributor: Focus Features

Release Date: February 23, 2024

Director: Ethan Coen

Screenplay: Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke

Cast: Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Bill Camp, Matt Damon, Joey Slotnick, C.J.Wilson, Pedro Pascal

Rating: R

Running Time: 1 hour and 24 minutes

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