Though a bit off the rails for some, I had a lot of fun with Drive-Away Dolls.
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After the Coen Brothers announced that they were no longer making films together, I presumed that they were both done making movies. If you have a creative partnership the last almost 40 years with your brother and you decide to stop, you usually do it because one of you is dead, genuine bad blood or you don't want to do it anymore. You go out like R.E.M., call this latest movie your last and ride into the sunset after...just an incredible career. Much to my surprise...that didn't happen and both Ethan and Joel have continue to make films with Joel making his very good The Tragedy of Macbeth for Apple and Ethan making a documentary about Jerry Lee Lewis for A24 and today's movie Drive-Away Dolls a lesbian crime comedy B-movie that feels like something straight out of the seventies. Guess we figured out who the "gonzo weirdo" of the duo was. But how is the movie?
The Setup
Taking place in 1999, the film follows the uptight Marian and her freewheeling bestie Jamie who, after she's kicked out by her righteously jealous ex-girlfriend, decides to join Marian's trip to Tallahassee to see her aunt. A trip that quickly goes off the rails when the girls pick up the wrong car from a drive-away car service containing some valuable contraband.
I don't like to do armchair psychology for people I don't know, especially famous people whose private lives are pretty private, but watching this movie made it pretty clear, at least to me, why Ethan stopped making films with Joel. He wanted to do something sillier and sexier
As much as the Coens are known for silly elements in their movies, and a handful of solid comedies, a lot of that comedy is restrained or reliant on a big element in an otherwise small scene. The best scene in Hail Caesar! for instance is a cowboy actor trying his best to do an English period drama. It's a great gag, but it is underplayed compared to almost every scene in this movie.
And romance may exist in their movies as well, but always in very chaste portrayals.
Whereas this movie basically opens with a cartoonish murder and an explicit lesbian sex-scene and never takes its foot off the gas. And I dig it.
And romance may exist in their movies as well, but always in very chaste portrayals.
Whereas this movie basically opens with a cartoonish murder and an explicit lesbian sex-scene and never takes its foot off the gas. And I dig it.
Here's a few big reasons why.
Undeniably Silly
One of the things that irks me about a lot of crime comedies is that both elements of the genre seem to be happening in different movies. Over here we've got our leads who are going through a funny series of misadventures, and over here we've got some very serious criminals who are about to run into our heroes like a freight train of reality in a little bit.
What I love about this movie is that every player involved in a cartoon character or type played the rafters, whether he's the guy working the counter at the drive-away place, a henchman who has high ideals about how he connects with people, or Beanie Feldstein doing her best Melissa McCarthy impression for the entire movie (this is a compliment by the way).
What I love about this movie is that every player involved in a cartoon character or type played the rafters, whether he's the guy working the counter at the drive-away place, a henchman who has high ideals about how he connects with people, or Beanie Feldstein doing her best Melissa McCarthy impression for the entire movie (this is a compliment by the way).
It means the movie can drift from a breakup scene to sex scene to a criminal interrogation scene without losing its comedic momentum.
Proudly Queer/Sex Positive
One thing to know going in is that this movie was co-written by Ethan Coen and his wife Tricia Cooke and that the pair, despite being together for years, describe their marriage as "non-traditional" with partners outside their marriage and Cooke identifies as queer and lesbian.
I bring all of that up, because at first glance this might seem like a revisionist take on the eighties comedies where the entire point was an inexperienced male character losing his virginity. But in our case, it's about Jamie trying to push Marian to have sex for the first time in years with...whoever's around.
And while Jamie seems to have the libido of a breeding dog, Marian's sexuality is still present and reflected through memories/fantasies and opened-up over the course of the movie. Sex in this movie is presented as a human need that may require something as subtle as a wink or deeper emotional connection and I think that's pretty great, especially in a movie where our two leads are queer women.
And while Jamie seems to have the libido of a breeding dog, Marian's sexuality is still present and reflected through memories/fantasies and opened-up over the course of the movie. Sex in this movie is presented as a human need that may require something as subtle as a wink or deeper emotional connection and I think that's pretty great, especially in a movie where our two leads are queer women.
The Big Knock: Some Unnecessary Flourishes
Part of the reason this movie looks and feels so silly and vibrant is the editing, which includes a lot of Sam Raimi-esque, Looney Tunes inspired edits that will quick cut from a character climaxing over to someone having a mundane day at their office. And that's the kind of stylistic flourish I enjoy/go for. Combined with the vibrant look and feel all the entire movie, the movie feels as lively as its characters talk.
But blended in are elements that don't make so much sense. Like a series of drug trip diversions that don't appear to be connected to anything or anyone's experience, but also contain plot-relevant information?
Or establishing/re-establishing that a location is a dog track, not with an establishing shot or B-roll, but a zoom in on a greyhound that's racing multiple times even after the scene has already begun.
Basically the shots and editing can feel unmotivated minus visual variation and shock value from time to time, and I think those elements would've been better left behind in the era this movie is pulling from (i.e. seventies exploitation flicks).
The Verdict: Silly, Sweet Fun
Though a bit off the rails for some, I had a lot of fun with Drive-Away Dolls. 7/10
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