Drive-Away Dolls (Ethan Coen's lesbian crime caper movie)

[Mister Six]

Lesbians! Murder! Mysterious suitcases! A wall-dildo!

I just got back from watching this very fun but slightly undercooked caper from one half of the Coen brothers.

I won't go into detail until more people have seen it, but I will say it's a lot of fun but pretty lightweight, and while I appreciate the brisk 90-minute running time, I get the feeling quite a lot was left on the cutting room floor.

Taken alongside Joel Coen's Tragedy of Macbeth, I think it's pretty clear who contributed what to their previous films: Ethan the philosophising and weight, Joel the playfulness and memorable dialogue. It's also an object lesson in the importance of balance and the need for these two to get over whatever drove them apart and start working together again!

Has anyone else seen it?

[Wet Blanket]

Looking forward to it but the advance reviews are... er... mixed.

Seen a few people make the same observation that Joel must be the serious one and Ethan the goof, based off their solo efforts - but isn't Ethan the one whose published a load of hard boiled fiction?

[Vodkafone]

Even the trailer manages to make it look fun but slight, that's probably not a good sign.

[C_Larence]

Saw the trailer for it on social media the other day and thought it looked absolutely gash, fast becoming a true margaret qualley hater.

[phantom_power]

Looking forward to it but the advance reviews are... er... mixed.

Seen a few people make the same observation that Joel must be the serious one and Ethan the goof, based off their solo efforts - but isn't Ethan the one whose published a load of hard boiled fiction?

Yeah I think one film each is too small a sample size. If the films they do together are so varied in tone then maybe their solo efforts will be as well, just that for their first ones they went for serious/fun

[Noodle Lizard]

I just saw it. I thought it was ... not good, sadly.

If a Coen Bro weren't involved, I'd roll my eyes and forget it as another poor attempt at biting their style, but the fact that he is just makes it baffling how off-mark it is. In many ways, it feels like two different scripts have been shoved together without much revision, which may well be the case (from what I understand, it was something his wife wrote that he got involved with a bit later on).

It does a lot of things Coen Bros films do, but with seemingly little thought or understanding as to why those things worked in films like Fargo or The Big Lebowski and don't work at all here. Without that depth, it's senseless and all over the place, just a lot of zany stuff that adds up to nothing. You need only look at this film's comedy goons to see what I'm getting at. They seem to be there for no reason other than to remind people of Buscemi and Stormare in Fargo, which is a bad idea considering how comparatively poorly-realised they are.

On the plus side, Margaret Qualley is quite good in it and makes the most of a largely quite poor script. She sells some lines very well, even if they'd be nothing on paper.

One for streaming when you're out of options.

[Mister Six]

Saw the trailer for it on social media the other day and thought it looked absolutely gash, fast becoming a true margaret qualley hater.

What a terrible pair of opinions.

[C_Larence]

And yet they're correct, what a world!

[Noodle Lizard]

A little addendum to my review:

I just discovered that the script was written around the time the story takes place (1999), which makes a lot of sense. I'm assuming the script hasn't changed all that much since then, as there's no other motivation for it being set in 1999 other than the fact that that's when it was written. Mystery solved.

I think a lot of the things that fell flat for me - an adult watching this in 2024 - might have been more novel or risky had it been released 25 years ago; lesbian protagonists, dildos all over the shop, coarse fuck-the-system banter etc.

(Then again, there was already a Coen-influenced crime caper with lesbian protagonists in 1996's Bound, a film I haven't seen in so long that I can't speak with any authority about it, so I don't know if the point about novelty really stands.)

As it is today, that stuff is all quite unremarkable, despite it feeling like a large part of the film's core identity. Its central relationship isn't very interesting, and it doesn't appear to offer any insight about lesbian culture or experience that anyone who's watched TV or movies over the past two decades wouldn't already know.

There's a point where it threatens to be culturally relevant with the whole Florida Senator strand, but then it just doesn't bother with it. Perhaps there was supposed to be more depth to all of that and they could only get Matt Damon in for a day, who knows. It's also not like a film with gay characters is obligated to focus on The Issues, but it seemed like this film thought that's what it was doing whilst not bothering itself unduly with its own premise.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Looks like it's the Mubi Go pick from Friday so will be seeing it then I guess.

[flotemysost]

It does a lot of things Coen Bros films do, but with seemingly little thought or understanding as to why those things worked in films like Fargo or The Big Lebowski and don't work at all here. Without that depth, it's senseless and all over the place, just a lot of zany stuff that adds up to nothing. You need only look at this film's comedy goons to see what I'm getting at. They seem to be there for no reason other than to remind people of Buscemi and Stormare in Fargo, which is a bad idea considering how comparatively poorly-realised they are.

On the plus side, Margaret Qualley is quite good in it and makes the most of a largely quite poor script. She sells some lines very well, even if they'd be nothing on paper.

Yep, agree with all this - feel like it thought it was more clever/novel than it actually was? Interesting that the script's that old, though - it definitely did feel dated as opposed to deliberately harking back to a particular approach (before seeing this thread it made me think of Diablo Cody kinda stylised wackiness, which still felt kinda "eh, this has been done before").

Likewise I was hoping the Florida stuff might go somewhere a bit more substantial, but for a 2024 film with queer protagonists that whole side of things felt pretty tame/dated too - it's probably unfair to compare it to the handful of other recent "lesbian buddy comedies" if you will, but as you say, it's not so much that it's automatically obliged to be about issues as it just didn't feel all that relevant or smart in that context.

I liked the two leads and there were some fun moments, but yeah found it a bit meh overall.

[Mister Six]

I just discovered that the script was written around the time the story takes place (1999), which makes a lot of sense. I'm assuming the script hasn't changed all that much since then, as there's no other motivation for it being set in 1999 other than the fact that that's when it was written. Mystery solved.

I think a lot of the things that fell flat for me - an adult watching this in 2024 - might have been more novel or risky had it been released 25 years ago; lesbian protagonists, dildos all over the shop, coarse fuck-the-system banter etc.

Yeah, this is a really good observation. It does feel like a film that doesn't really have a reason to exist except that Ethan Coen had the script lying around and was able to get the funding for it.

You're right that Bound came out in 1998, but that's got a more serious tone. I think something this flippant and playful in 1999 might have caused a bit more of a stir.

I also suspect that it had massive chunks gouged out of it in editing. Those psychedelic animations felt pointless until the one with young Matt Damon turned up, and then I thought - "Ah, I bet this was supposed to be a regular flashback, but it fucked with the film's pacing so he chopped it down, made it all trippy so it was more interesting, then scattered those other psychedelic interludes through the film so it wouldn't look out of place."

Curlie not getting any resolution after pointedly bringing him up midway through the film also felt like a weird misstep, and I reckon that he came back in some form or another in an earlier cut.

I'd love to read the shooting script.

[Mobbd]

So we're supposed to get the reference to Alice B. Toklas but not know who Cynthia Plaster Caster was? Pssh.

I didn't have a bad time watching this (the leads are wonderful) but it didn't float my boat either. Weak sauce.

I think a lot of the things that fell flat for me - an adult watching this in 2024 - might have been more novel or risky had it been released 25 years ago; lesbian protagonists, dildos all over the shop, coarse fuck-the-system banter etc.

We were definitely supposed to be tickled by the dildos (as it were). But they're just objects to me. Not remotely unusual or surprising or funny. That's one of the biggest problems with the film's humour I think: misdiagnosing absurdity.

But in defence of 1999, I'm not sure it would ever have been particularly funny or risqué to be honest. You know how we don't see what's in the case in Pulp Fiction? Wasn't it one of your first, almost reflexive, guesses back in the day that it was a giant golden cock?

In Amelie, her love interest works in a sex shop. It was a gently off-kilter choice but at no point are the dildos signposted as "funny".

If this had been an idea in Spaced, it would have been a mildly amusing one-and-done story like Bill Bailey's story about Minty the class warrior with the scratch card. There's no way Pegg and the gang would have based a whole movie around something so slight.

There's a point where it threatens to be culturally relevant with the whole Florida Senator strand, but then it just doesn't bother with it.

Very true, but you know what? I'm not sure I would have enjoyed that. I don't think it had to be culturally relevant to this moment. I'm perfectly happy to escape the current political landscape when I go into the cinema.

If the behind-the-scenes story of this film was to showcase Ethan's directorial skills (and they were perfectly good - great even!) it's hard to believe there wasn't a meatier script lying around in the desk drawer, or that there isn't the talent in the Cohens' orbit to write a great new one. Odd.

Things I liked:

I was surprised when

Spoiler alert

the big lug gangster killed his cohorts. That was enjoyable. I was surprised again when he would have willingly killed our heroes. (Maybe that was just me - did others see it coming?)

[close]

I loved the leads. Such presence. Great actors. Good at comedy. I'm going to seek out more of Qualley's stuff in particular. I hope neither of them, ever, goes down the Ghostbusters 2016 route. They're too good for that.

[dead-ced-dead]

Speaking of the leads, I love Geraldine Viswanathan. I've been a fan of hers since her scene stealing turn in Blockers, but she was particularly good in The Broken Hearts Gallery - an above average romantic comedy that harks back to the days of When Harry Met Sally.

She's very, very good in it and has a lot of the same qualities that made Meg Ryan so winning in the 80s and 90s. So anyone wanting to seek out more from should give that a rent.

[Better Midlands]

Was just reading reviews of this 'cos Margaret Qualley was brilliant in Maid and someone mentioned her Kenzo advert from 2017 which I'd never seen.

[Mister Six]

Qualley is fantastic in everything, but I especially liked her in Sanctuary.

She's also funny in Poor Things, although it's little more than a glorified cameo.

Viswanathan I'm not familiar with, but I'll seek out more of her stuff now; I liked her a lot in this.

[phantom_power]

Qualley is fantastic in everything, but I especially liked her in Sanctuary.

She's also funny in Poor Things, although it's little more than a glorified cameo.

Viswanathan I'm not familiar with, but I'll seek out more of her stuff now; I liked her a lot in this.

Watch Miracle Workers if you can. She is great in it, as is Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi

That Kenzo advert is fucking amazing

[Mister Six]

Was just reading reviews of this 'cos Margaret Qualley was brilliant in Maid and someone mentioned her Kenzo advert from 2017 which I'd never seen.

A massive rip-off of the Weapon of Choice video, but still fucking amazing. She's so great.

Want to see her and Walken in a dance-off now.

Well, not really. She'd destroy him.

[phantom_power]

Yeah the concept and style of the video is so-so. It is her performance that is amazing

[Better Midlands]

A massive rip-off of the Weapon of Choice video

My first thought too.

[Mobbd]

It doesn't matter that it's a bit like Weapon of Choice, that's phenomenal!

Love the out-of-control limb moments. And the mirror crawl. And how the madness starts small, in the eyes. Just fantastic.

[QDRPHNC]

After reading the comments here, I think it may be falling into place why Intolerable Cruelty and Ladykillers felt like other people trying to make one of those wacky Coen Bros. movies.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Margaret Quality.

This was definitely at the lower end of the Coen canon - a bit by the numbers, with some rather loose plotting - but still a decent bit of fun.

That said, I feel a slight twinge of sadness seeing (half of) one of my favourite filmmakers in such seemingly reduced circumstances. I've been to the cinema pretty much every week this year and this arrived with no promotion whatsoever. Aside from a cameo, there are no big names in the cast (not necessarily a bad thing, but I feel like there would have been in the past - the hired goons would have been played by someone more recognisable).

I was surprised when

Spoiler alert

the big lug gangster killed his cohorts. That was enjoyable. I was surprised again when he would have willingly killed our heroes. (Maybe that was just me - did others see it coming?)

[close]

That felt like a huge loose end. They've got him dead to rights for murder and he just leaves them be?

[Mister Six]

Aside from a cameo, there are no big names in the cast

Spoiler alert

Matt Damon is a reasonably big name, no?

And two cameos - Pedro Pascal and Miley Cyrus.

[close]

TBH I'm quite happy with the casting. Maybe it would have been nice to have Actual Paul Giamatti instead of Ersatz Skinny Paul Giamatti as the chatty henchman, but I imagine the budget was a bit stretched as is, and hopefully Ethan just went with the best picks rather than trying to chase hot names. I think stuffing the cast with big names would have drawn attention away from the two leads anyway, without contributing much.

That felt like a huge loose end. They've got him dead to rights for murder and he just leaves them be?

He's obviously not acting rationally.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Spoiler alert

I was thinking of Damon. I'd actually forgotten about Pascal (getting his eyes gouged, again) and Cyrus (whom I thought was Scarlett Johannsson)

[close]

[Mister Six]

I reckon

Spoiler alert

there was a lot more of Damon, Pascal and even Cyrus in the original. It feels like a film that was hacked down in editing. Stuff like Curlie not getting closure and the murderer henchman running out of the story felt like loose threads left because it fucked with the pace of the film.

I think it explains the random psychedelic interludes, too - I'll bet originally those flashbacks with Damon and Cyrus were there in full, but they were deemed to be slowing things down, so they got turned into psychedelic nubbins to make them shorter and more interesting, and the other couple of interludes (the one with the pizza and whatever the other one was) were put in there so they didn't seem so out of place.

[close]

[Noodle Lizard]

There's plenty more I would've cut rather than the things which would actually finish the film. It's not as if it doesn't meander in places.

[Mister Six]

It meanders, but generally retains its focus on the protagonists. I could see the flashback stuff and any extraneous non-protag or plot essential bits getting ditched to keep the runtime tight. Feels like a film where they (or the producers) were worried about outstaying their welcome.

Could well be wrong though.