Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan star in Ethan Coen’s new comedy.
Ah, Ethan is the funny one. Got it.
Truthfully, seeing the first trailer for Drive-Away Dolls some months ago did not fill me with anticipation. It looked like a rude and brash comedy that was not my style, and more cartoony-y than anything I remember from the Coen Brothers before.
Since Ethan Coen reportedly expressed his desire in 2021 to spend more time on stage productions, his older brother Joel Coen made The Tragedy of Macbeth, a straight adaptation that was finely-acted and impressively filmed (in black and white), yet curiously inert dramatically.
Of course, among the 18 films that the brothers made together, some were less effective than others, but nearly all bespoke a genuine love of cinema and telling stories that consistently delighted and/or shook up audiences (I’m looking at you, No Country for Old Men). So, the prospect of a broad comedy by Ethan Coen was not inherently inspiring.
Within the first five minutes of Drive-Away Dolls, however, I started laughing and put away my apprehensions.
Now, Drive-Away Dolls is certainly no comedy classic. Written by Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke, his wife and a longtime editor of the Coen Brothers’ films together, it’s much more crass and rude than I anticipated, and the jokes, as the initial trailer suggested, are quite a bit broader than I expected to hear.
What made me laugh, though, and put me in the frame of mind to enjoy the film is the expression on Pedro Pascal’s face as he exits a nightclub and realizes that someone is following him. His face becomes a live-action equivalent to the Road Runner, a huge indicator that something is wrong and he is not doing anything to disguise it. His face seems to enlarge, signaling his concern, as you might communicate with an infant who hasn’t learned to talk yet.
That was when I realized the point of the movie is that it has already jumped the tracks and is riding on its own loco-motion. Everything that is spoken or enacted will take place in an alternate, comic-book universe — the funny pages, not the superhero books — where merry melodies rule the day.
In this, it shares the comic sensibility expressed, especially, in Raising Arizona (1987), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), The Ladykillers (2004), and Hail, Caesar! (2016). It’s tempting to re-watch all 18 films the Coen Brothers made together and try to figure out who did what.
What makes all the movies work so well, however, is the meshing of the comic and dramatic elements together to make something unique and distinctive. Replicating that, or separate the sensibility of one brother from the other, is a fool’s errand.
Obviously, Drive-Away Dolls will not be to everyone’s taste. It’s quite juvenile. It’s also quite cheerful and funny, if you’re in the right frame of mind and ready for some dumb humor that often goes ‘over the line’ and could possibly offend. Honestly, going in, I thought the movie was rated PG-13 and was shocked at the adult material in it, until I got home and saw that the movie is, in fact, rated R. So be aware that the movie earns its rating.
Nonetheless, Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan display true chemistry as Jaimie and Marian, respectively, a wild -card loose cannon and a strait-laced character who go on a road trip together and encounter all sorts of criminal types, played by, among others, Colman Domingo and Matt Damon.
To say more is unnecessary. The film runs a brisk 84 minutes, which will be not enough if you’re enjoying it and far too much if you’re not. Judge for yourselves.
The film opens wide Friday, February 23, in movie theaters throughout Dallas and Fort Worth. For more information about the film, visit the official site.
Dallas Film Now. 