Drive-Away Dolls
Drive-Away Dolls
Starring Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo
Directed by Ethan Coen
In Philadelphia in 1999, proud outspoken lesbian Jamie (Margaret Qualley) wants to live life and all its delicious sinful pleasures, and doesn't really care what society thinks about it - so much so she cheats on her cop girlfriend Sukie (Beanie Feldstein) who kicks her out of their apartment. On the flip side there's her friend and fellow lesbian Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) who's uptight, tense, moody, and stiff. She hasn't had a girlfriend - or sex - for years, and has an overall defensive demeanor. She decides to go to Tallahassee to visit her aunt, and Jamie tags along for the ride, hoping to visit some unique stops along the way.
They pick up a car at a local drive-away place run by the shady Curlie (Bill Camp), who inadvertently gives them a car that was supposed to go to someone else - someone with a terrible secret in its trunk. When the real owner's goons arrive led by Chief (Colman Domingo), he sends his goons Arliss (Joey Slotnick) and Flint (C.J. Wilson) to Tallahassee to intercept the briefcase and make sure it ends up in the right hands - even if it means killing Jamie and Marian to keep them quiet.
The Good:
"Drive-Away Dolls" is one of those movies that's unabashedly a Coen brothers picture, one that doesn't hold back its punches nor really particularly cares about what society might say about it. It's a throwback to the gritty 90s independent films and quirky mismatched road trip comedies that feels refreshing in a world saturated with overused IPs, sequels, and superhero movies. It's original, fresh, and filled with the wit and humor you'd expect from a Coen, proving they haven't lost their ability to shock through the use of comedy.
The story is equal parts mismatched buddy road trip comedy and classic bumbling caper all rolled into one, like watching someone's work who clearly idolizes movies like "Seven" (which is even indirectly mentioned in the film) and "Pulp Fiction" (I mean, a mysterious suitcase everyone wants? What other movie can you think of did that?), yet Ethan Coen is so established that he doesn't mimic or copy the work word-for-word, but uses them as inspiration for his own unique story. There's no plagiarism here, as this is wholly a Coen brother film.
Not only is it a mismatched buddy road trip comedy, it's actually two of them for the price of one. One story centers around our heroines Jamie and Marian, and you couldn't imagine two different people. Margaret Qualley plays Jamie as a free spirit who wants to explore the world and all it has to offer, and doesn't feel bridled down by anyone in particular: she's her own proud lesbian woman, and doesn't care what anyone else thinks about it. Her quirky Southern accent is endearing, and she delivers some great one-liners (the only one who steals the show from her is Beanie Feldstein as her jilted ex-lover, who absolutely chews the scenery). Geraldine Viswanathan is still a name criminally unheard of, yet she's a powerful actress in her own right. As the uptight Marian, she maintains a stiff upper lip and her body language does all the talking. She has a dry sarcastic sense of humor and takes no gruff from anyone, but it also doesn't help her social or love life. Still, her comedy comes through her body language and facial expressions, especially one scene where I literally busted out laughing just from her expression.
The other mismatched buddies on the road trip to hell is from Joey Slotnick's Arliss and C.J. Wilson's Flint, the two henchmen to Colman Domingo's Chief who is sent to Tallahassee to get the briefcase back. Arliss is someone who uses words and is outspoken and friendly to the people they talk to, while Flint resorts to violence to get the information he needs - but he's horribly inept about it (such as when they go talk to Sukie, whose (most) of the result is shown in the trailer). There's no love lost between these two, unlike Jamie and Marian, and it's hilarious seeing them butt heads at every turn.
The Bad:
The caper story has something to be desired, sadly, and is reminiscent of better caper films (most of them done by the Coens themselves). When it's revealed what's inside the case, it really doesn't make a lot of sense as to why people were killed in order to keep it a secret. Maybe it's looking through a 2024 lens, but it didn't seem like a big deal - which I guess in 1999 it would've been.
The film is only 84 minutes long, and while I can appreciate the breezy nature of the story and not having it be another two and a half-plus hour runtime, it could've benefited by at least ten or twenty more minutes of story. That way it could've flushed out the caper story more thoroughly and really amp up the stakes. As it is, the girls don't even find the briefcase until about thirty to forty minutes in, leaving less room for it to be really explored.
The film boasts the likes of Coleman Domingo, Pedro Pascal and Matt Damon, but when it comes to Pascal and Damon, they're merely cameos who exist to move the movie forward and weren't really needed in such small roles. Domingo is the real victim, as his character arc could've been something stronger and for an Academy Award-nominated actor he should've had more time to shine than he did.
The Summary:
Providing the witty humor and no-nonsense jabs at society as a whole that you'd expect from any Coen brother movie, "Drive-Away Dolls" is also hampered by its short runtime that doesn't allow the story to be fully flushed out.
The Score: B+
Comments
Post a Comment