It’s been six years since the Coen Brothers (Joel and Ethan Coen) released The Ballad of Buster Scruggs in 2018. Since the release of the three-times Oscar nominated Netflix original, the duo have remained busy. The duo continue to be credited as executive producers for FX’s Fargo antholohy series. And in 2021, Joel Coen made his solo directorial debut with The Tragedy of Macbeth for the Apple TV+ streaming service. Now Ethan Coen makes his solo directorial debut with Drive-Away Dolls.
Drive-Away Dolls is a raucous road trip comedy starring Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan. Viewers may recognise Margaret Qualley from her small role in Poor Things earlier this year, and she is reuniting with director Yorgos Lanthimos later this year in the crime film Kinds of Kindness. Geraldine Viswanathan meanwhile will be most recognisable to viewers from the comedy Blockers.
I saw Drive-Away Dolls a couple of weeks back at my local multiplex. Here are my thoughts on the movie, and whether it is strong debut solo debut for director Ethan Coen.
Drive-Away Dolls opens with a scene set in a bar in Philadelphia. Here we meet as-yet-unnamed man (Pedro Pascal) nervously clutching a briefcase. A few minutes later he walks into a nearby alleyway, and is followed by one of waiters in the bar. The waitor murders Pedro Pascals charater, and then decapitated in a comicly violet scene involving a champagne corkscrew.
Elsewhere in Philadelphia, we meet friends Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan). Jamie is in a relationship with cop Sukie (Beanie Feldstein), which falls apart due to Jamie’s repeated infidelity. Marian meanwhile works a desk job in an office where her colleagues are seemingly unaware of her sexuality. Marian eventually decides to quit her job, and go on a road trip to Tallahassee, Florida to see her aunt. When Jamie learns of this, she decides to tag along and plan a road trip for the pair. The duo head to a bearby car rental allotment to find a car for their trip. This leads to an accidental mix-up, as they are given a car reserved for someone else.
Shortly after Jamie and Marian leave Philadelphia, three criminals show up at the allotment. The trio – Arliss, Flint, and Chief – interrrogate the allotment owner, and learn their car has been given to Marian and Jamie. This leads to the criminals attempting to track down Jamie and Marian, as the duo enjoy their road trip This road trip involves what amounts to effectivelt a series of set pieces involving a range of colourful characters including a women’s soccer team. These set pieces are bookended by several pyscadelic vignettes that bizarrely star Miley Cyrus!!!
Starting with the few positives I took from Drive-Away Dolls, lead actresses Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan show promising comedic chops throughout the film. Geraldine Viswanathan’s performance as Marian reinforces her natural talent for deadpan comedy, which we’ve previously seen in teen sex comedy Blockers. Margaret Qualley arguably steals the entire movie as the free-spirited Jamie. Qualley brings a madcap energy to the role, and she frequently gets many of the best lines in Drive-Away Dolls.
Moving on to the negatives, I felt Drive-Away Dolls was far too disjointed and unfocused from a narrative perspective. The film tonally aims for a Tarantino-esque take on the Coen brother’s previous comedies e.g. Burn After Reading, Hail Caesar. Unfortunately, director Ethan Coen and his co-writer Tricia Cooke, throw far too many ideas at the audience. This means that virtually every scene in Drive-Away Dolls ends up feeling underdeveloped. In this sense, it reminded me of 2000s SNL comedies such as Hot Rod and American Wet Hot Summer. Like these films, the ratio of jokes in Drive-Away Dolls landing is very hit or miss. This makes the movie a frustrating watch for most viewers (myself included). Ultimately your enjoyment of Drive-Away Dolls depends heavily on your tolerance for wacky SNL-style skits.
Perhaps the greatest example of the underdeveloped writing found throughout Drive-Away Dolls is the character of Florida Senator Gary Channel. The character is introduced towards the final third of the film via a billboard promoting his re-election campaign. Ove the final act, audiences learn that Gary ordered the three criminals chasing Jamie and Margaret to retrieve the briefcase. This is due the briefcase containing a cast of a part of his anatomy that could harm his political aspirations.
While Gary’s party allegiance is never explicity revealed, the fact he’s socially conservative and a Florida Senator point towards him being a Republican. Writers Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke could have easily used this character as a satirical take on currennt Floridan governor Ron DeSantis. However they fail to flesh out Gary Channel beyond him being a right-wing conservative politician. This lack of character depth means it feels like Matt Damon is wasted in the role.
In conclusion, Drive-Away Dolls is a disappointingly below-average comedy by Ethan Coen. While it passed Mark Kermonde’s patented “six laugh test”, the film is far too disjointed. And Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan make the most of the limited material they’ve been given. If you want to watch a wacky sub-90-minute comedy featuring two lesbian lead characters, I’d recommend instead watching the vastly superior Bottoms from last year.