User Reviews

I wanted to like this, really have never seen a Coen movie that wasn't good... until this one. It has some funny moments, no doubt, but they were pretty few and far between.

Possibly some of this flew over my head, as I'm not a member of the lesbian community, but again just not my thing.

I thought the criminals were fairly funny and the two leads had some moments, but I really wish we got more high quality comedies in this day and age. Too few and the ones that get here are usually meh.

If you want a good Coen brothers comedy, checkout burn after reading, it's hilarious. Really wish this was better, but it's way too uneven.

Drive Away Dolls is the latest film from Ethan Coen but the first without collaboration from brother Joel. While Joel whittled away with a stark, black and white adaptation of Macbeth starring an utterly joyless Denzel Washington, Ethan's film wouldn't feel out of place alongside a 70s B-movie double feature. Dolls is replete with cheesy transitions, awkward close-ups, obnoxious neon, vintage Coen accents, and a welcome-but-not-quite-good-enough use of Maggot Brain. It's also a mixed bag of indulgent violence, puritan degeneracy, and half-baked characterizations.

The film follows Jamie and Marian as they drive to Tallahassee, inadvertently picking up precious cargo belonging to a group of shady individuals who have killed to keep it in their possession. The film is an interesting but sometimes tedious clash of black crime farce and melodramatic lesbian dramedy, devoting infrequent time to either story for proper depth or development.

Positives first. The film is funny. Not always funny, not quite funny enough, and garishly lacking the type of transgressive abrasiveness to make the material shine...but in general, it's funny. Though the characters aren't drawn intricately, their details (both from the script and the performances) are emphasized and repeated to build adequate rapport with each other and the audience.

Dolls is also stylized, in a perplexingly cheap but modestly endearing sort of way. The gimmicky transitions and trippy, spacey moments help build vital momentum to keep the first half breezy and engaging. However, Coen's parlor tricks wane and drag when the plot thickens and the film must carry itself on the merits of its own internal logistics and validity. When that time comes, the Dolls implodes.

Again, Dolls is a grinding mishmash of crime comedy and lesbian dramedy, an interesting conceit which never works with itself to create unity or continuity. The stories of disparate, often as jarring and incongruent as the smash-cut transitions which hold them together like staples through skin. The material feels like a first draft or an untalented mockery of a Coens brothers' script. The heart, patience, and icily detached bemusement of their earlier work has been augmented into the dishearteningly ubiquitous trend of smug, self-righteously assured moral congratulation.

Every creative choice tugs and struggles against the others, but the real letdown of Dolls is its faux dedication to irreverence in its superior first half. When the plot kicks in, when our leads are finally given true agency in regards to the bigger picture, everything becomes easy.

What should be an elongated sequence of comedic tension and unpredictability quickly upends itself to give our intrepid little heroes the necessary resources for a clean, bland getaway. The tension deflates; the comedy deflates; the interest deflates; the irreverence inverts, praising Jamie and Marian as ideal ideological models. It's disappointing and honestly unexpected, but maybe Ethan's been watching South Park recently - in the end, he managed to make it gay and make it lame.

Overall, Drive Away Dolls is tough to criticize or praise too fervently because it's a film of halves. The first half is tonally breezy and characterizations (both heroes and villains) are striking but not overbearing. In the second, the tone and treatment of protagonists is eye-rolling. In the first half, the stakes are high, the style is laid back, and the journey is leisurely. In the second, the stakes are obliterated, the style is forced, and the journey feels like a ham-fisted means to an end. See it as a curious counterpoint to Joel's Macbeth, but don't go in expecting Fargo. 5/9.

I have loved nearly every Coen brothers films ever made, and my favorite No Country for Old Men is in my top 5 EVER. I just can't believe how bad this film is. I thought Margaret Qualley was fantastic in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I thought she had a really big career ahead of her. She has had some more good performances, and then this. I am not sure what she was trying to achieve here, but she failed miserably. That fake Texas drawl was appallingly bad. I realize Matt Damon, and Pedro Pasqal were just in short, quick roles, but why would they waste their time. I guess maybe a favor to Ethan ,!

I am so confused about what Ethan Coen was trying for here. Sarcastic- fail. .. Dark- fail... Ironic-fail...cheesy-fail Certainly not very funny either.

Fun yet disappointing. It's a b-movie that's a raunchy, adventurous lesbian comedy-drama road trip. So creatively it sorta has a lot going for it. It has some funny bits, but it's not as fun and funny as i thought it'd be. It is a pleasant contrast to most self-consciously serious movies out there currently though. The movie had these transitions that reminded me of That 70's show; using graphics or clips that felt out of place to segue between scenes.

The actors seemed like they belonged to different films, which makes sense considering the main actresses, Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan, were accidentally thrust into a criminal world. While the two girls treated their roles with a playful, unserious tone, Colman Domingo and Senator Matt Damon took their roles seriously, like actual gangsters despite the unserious and amusing dialogue. The headline "Senator shot outside lesbian bar" was funny. The goons fully embraced the movie's absurdity, while Pedro Pascal appeared to be in a different film entirely. His opening scene had felt very comic-bookish, and Miley Cyrus was in these psychedelic scenes that are later explained.

It's a movie that doesn't take itself seriously at all, and I think that works in its favor. Yet, I find myself slightly disappointed, thinking what the film could have been. As I said, creatively it had a lot going for it, but doesn't feel like it tried to push the envelope at all. It could've been a lighthearted 'Saltburn', or it could've been more goofy and funny, or way more vulgar and chaotic, or it could've been really thrilling like if some of the bad guys were actually frightening and intimidating. The girls never felt like they were in any danger. It feels like they could've pushed the movie in different directions but instead it's somewhere meddling in the middle. The movie played it safe.

The plot meanders through ridiculous scenarios on a purposeless road trip, intentional in its pointlessness. It is a short movie, but I also think there were some conversations that didn't really add much; scenes that wouldn't make much difference if removed. Jamie and Marian weren't the most interesting of characters and didn't have much of a spark. Their relationship could've been written better.

The movies not too terrible, I just think it had the potential to be more fun, funny and charming. Something that would light you up. The movie exudes pizazz but feels like it's missing it at the same time.

I'm shocked! What is with all the negative response to this film? Did people have extreme high expectations or am I missing something?

I had a really fun time watching "Drive Away Dolls". I had no expectations whatsoever going in, all I knew was that it was directed by one of the Coen brothers. So I was pleasantly surprised how easily I was hooked into the story and its characters. It's a stripped back, simple, buddy comedy, with a modern flare to it. I found myself laughing at the jokes, which is a rarity in film for me, and overall just buying the entire wacky concept.

Is this film doing anything mind blowing? No. Is this film meant to be up for awards? No. Is this film going to be redefining cinema? No. It doesn't have to be any of those things, just an overall good, easy film to watch. One that is over in the less the 1 hour 30 mins, which flew by. Could have it been better, of course it could have been. The story maybe more fleshed out, the characters better developed. However, that would have made it drag on and messed up the high flying pace.

I am astounded by the really bad negative reaction to this film. Makes me wonder if I'm missing something or if I just have bad taste haha. I'm not even a Coen fan, I think their films can be very up and down. I went in wanting to be entertained and have fun doing so. This film achieved that.

70% out of 100%, its good and thats completely fine. Nothing thats gonna make you have an outer body experience or change your definition of film making. However, it might make you laugh and have a fun time.

A movie like this relies almost entirely on the charisma and chemistry of the two leads. I suppose either it works for you or it doesn't. Definitely didn't for me, but hey. Although there are moments early on that feel promising, it never quite gets to where you thought it would.

I never thought I'd say this, but the Coen brand of humor ticked up just one notch too far in the "silly" direction with this one. Unfortunately, this made the tender and emotionally targeted parts of the film feel forced and underdeveloped.

In all, it just felt like the marketing and promotion was a bit mismanaged on this movie. It wasn't an "on the run" cat and mouse movie by any means. More of a light hearted, raunchy, cutesy love story.

The only thing going for it is the quick runtime, and even that felt like a slog at times.

3 stars for trying.

This movie is not for everyone, in fact there a lot of possible turn offs. It's basically a whole lot of sex jokes, condensed in a movie. Still, there is enough to like. The unique transitions, paired with some enjoyable characters will probably make you snicker a couple of times. The overall story is okish, but won't keep you philosophising at night, except if you're contemplating the perks of being a lesbian I guess.

The highlight of this movie is the part in which Pedro Pascal performs the best cartoonesk run I have ever seen. Truly a performance for the ages.

All in all, fun enough if you're looking for a brain snack, not a must see.

Before I give my thoughts on this movie, I have to share a funny story about my viewing experience. After me and my friend got out of the theater, we took pictures of us by the three different posters across the hallway. One of the posters said in marker, "needs Joel", in reference to the fact that this marks long time writer/director Ethan Coen's first solo directorial effort. Why do I mention this? Because I feel like me and my friend made the right choice in just judging the film on its own merits and not the fact that a legendary director made a bizarre yet enjoyable black comedy about two lesbians going on the road for the fun of it.

Now the story itself is pretty gritty from the get go, as the two friends in particular, Jamie and Marian, end up on the run after unintentionally taking a car with a briefcase that mobsters are after. While the Coen brothers have made many idiosyncratic crime capers, down to their first film Blood Simple being one, this film's content is wildly erotic, to the point where might debate if the feature is more or less an excuse to exploit sex scenes for the sake of it. Coen wrote the movie with his wife Tricia Cooke, who also served as the main editor, so one can sense a lot of their influence from bad taste cinema that was hot in the 60s and 70s. Not only is the movie foul in both language and graphic content, but the obscenity is so erratically abhorrent that there is a lot to take away in terms of reactionary value. Therefore, anyone going into this film will not be able to comprehend much of what to expect beyond the basic premise, so it's best to take the experience for what it's worth.

If anyone behind the film managed to make the most out of the rambunctious nature of it all, it would have to be the cast. Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan work off well as Jamie and Marian, bouncing off carefree words and tumultuous actions with such lively vigor that you buy anything that happens to them, no matter how frustrating or emotional their misadventures may be. In addition, while a little more sardonic than legitimately intimidating, the Chief and his cronies Arliss and Flint make for genuinely unsympathetic losers thanks to the married couple style chemistry between Colman Domingo, Joey Slotnick and C. J. Wilson respectively. Beanie Feldstein is also a fun addition as Jamie's ex Sukie thanks to her explosive temper and defensive approach to her officer duties. While the visually stimulating cinematography and playful editing make the character's journey just as intense as their desires, the actors make the characters arguably more delightful than the story ever had a chance to do so.

So while Drive Away Dolls is a throughly naughty road crime caper that barely takes itself seriously, it is a breath of fresh air as far as nostalgic throwbacks to exploitative genre films go. In a day and age where audiences pretend to have grown past those genres yet still seek out torture fests for horror movies or mainstream adult comedies, this feature could be up the alleys fpr any fans left of the genre. Even if you could see this film as Ethan Coen calling it quits and not taking his status all that seriously anymore, it's still quite a crazy time indeed.

It's not an original comment at all, but after enduring DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS, I really felt like I had been left dumber than I was going in. This movie is such a massive mis-fire, I'm really shocked it got any kind of release. What drew me in was my 40 year long affection for the films of the Coen Brothers. I figured with a film from Ethan Coen, I was in for a breezy good time like some of the Coen's lesser works offered (I'm thinking INTOLERABLE CRUELTY or maybe BURN AFTER READING). What I got was a ridiculous mash-up of themes, none of which were well thought out or entertaining.

This 84 minute movie follows Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), two friends who also happen to be lesbians (but are not "together"). Jamie is a wild-child from Texas, all one-night stands and hedonistic. Marian is buttoned-up and hasn't had a lover in 3 years or more. While not exactly closeted, the 1999 setting of this film means she isn't exactly openly gay either. They decide to take a trip down to Tallahassee (I don't even recall all the rationale for that), and to make it financially viable to do so, they use a drive-away service that hooks them up with a car bound for that very Florida city. Sadly, the owner of the drive-away service thought the two young ladies worked for the criminals who ARE supposed to be driving the car south, leading to a pair of "goons" (as listed in the credits) to chase after the two young ladies in a time before real cell phone coverage or other tech that might have made the pursuit easier.

Antics ensue, revolving mostly around the sexual shenanigans of the two girls (mostly kinda icky), the endless arguments between the two goons (none of which were interesting at all) and the eventual discovery of what was in the trunk of the car that the ladies aren't supposed to know about (involving the creation of plaster casts made of the private parts of certain conservative political figures).

My biggest problem with the film was the ridiculous, over-the-top portrayal of lesbian sexuality. Coupled with the silly plaster casts we are often obliged to gaze at, and you've got a film that feels like it was written by a ninth grade boy who doesn't understand how sex works and REALLY doesn't understand how lesbian sex works. Most of the sex scenes were embarrassing to watch, they were so childish.

These scenes MIGHT have been at least some fun, had they not starred the truly dreadful Margaret Qualley. I've seen her give decent performances before (NOVITIATE, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD), but here her wild energy is uncontained and generic. Nothing she does feels rooted in any kind of reality, even the skewed reality of this film. It wants to be a daring performance; instead, it is silly and not for one moment did it feel like I watching a real person. Viswanathan, on the other hand, is marginally convincing, and the only character we root for at all.

Pedro Pascal and Matt Damon make very brief cameo appearances. They both look dreadfully embarrassed to be in the film. (I felt actively bad for Damon.) And the film even manages to make the delightful Colman Domingo uninteresting.

A deep disappointment, insulting to lesbians (rather than "liberating" as I assume it intended to be) and simply stunning to be coming from Ethan Coen. Avoid!!

I had a good time watching this one. The characters are a true highlight here, and the two leads contrast each other well. Jamie being the most lovable of the two, and Marian has the most emotional depth to her. The cameos were also well-casted, so even though you spend maybe three minutes meeting those characters, you can understand what kind of person they are without needing the exposition. Nobody ever feels like they're being talked down to or reduced to a stereotype. The humor is on-point, even when there are uncomfortable moments you can't help but chuckle a little bit at the circumstances.

The one critique I have is that there are a lot of psychedelic cutaways and transitions that (save for one specific one, you'll know when you see it) seem like pure filler. The movie is way too short, I would pay to see a whole series of Mariam and Jamie going on little escapades a là Poker Face. Missed potential there. It's a short, sweet, fun movie! This is one of those movies that doesn't need it, but I really hope they make a sequel!

After seeing the trailer to Drive Away Dolls, I was expecting a crime caper comedy, but I saw the movie and got something different and not in a good way.

This movie I felt was trying more to shock us then being funny. Had promise but got wasted on lazy storytelling, and two characters who are amusing but then quickly I was feeling smothered by. Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan are talented, and have good chemistry, but the problem is I wish they where better written, Qualley overacts and Viswanathan under acts. Other actors who I will not name come in and do very little here. This movie is a trainwreck.

This is not a movie for mainstream fans. It certainly shares characteristics from other Coen movies, especially "Fargo". The seemingly gratuitous non-sexy nudity. The road trip with the talkative little guy and the goon. My wife watched half of the trailer and decided to skip, streaming on Peacock. For those of us who enjoy many of the Coen movies, this is a very entertaining one. Though more than a bit raunchy.

My main reason for trying it was Margaret Qualley who was so good in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and in "My Salinger Year." Here she is unabashed Lesbian, Jamie, living and working in Pennsylvania. When her good friend and fellow Lesbian says she wants to go to Tallahassee to visit her aunt, Jamie has an idea, she will go too and they will get there by picking up a "drive away" car, one that needs to be delivered to a different city. Thus the name, "Drive-away Dolls."

The road trip gets complicated, there is a flat tire, leading to the discovery of a metal briefcase with surprising contents. There is a Senate candidate, a "family man" with a shady past, and Matt Damon is cast in that small but important role. There is lots of Lesbian activity, but it seemed to me to be a parody of sorts, for laughs.

So yes, its current rating across all audiences is understandably low, but for those of us who enjoy the strange, unusual, often dark humor of a Coen movie it is better than its rating would suggest.

Oh! And the several Linda Ronstadt songs are a bonus.

You can tell when people are having fun making a movie. Ethan Cohen brings us a wacky premises and a spectacular cast in Drive-Away Dolls. Its a world that is absurd but grounded. Its the reality we live in skewed just a bit of centered. From the opening you know its not a perfect movie. It entertains and visually captures you with strange editing choices. The cast ia fun and unders what they need to accomplish. The two leads are fantastic and control the narrative beautifully you are rooting for these idiots the whole time. If you are bored and want to support director's who take big swings watch this movie. I beg people to watch weird movies more often.

Watched it with my girlfriend on a lazy weekend. Had so much fun with this!!! We need more lesbian roadtrip buddy comedies!! It is unapologetically queer and quirky indeed. Happy to see queer women being represented more on screen. I hope people won't be discouraged by the rating and haters.

Very simple plot and concept. Campy, trippy, and over the top. Great casting too as Jamie and Marianne look great together.

Always loved the Coen brothers and was not disappointed at all by Drive-Away Dolls at all. This movie is quite different from their previous works. Would recommend if you want a light watch and a good laugh.

This maybe had 45-50 minutes worth of content and it made 84 minutes feel long. The script needed a lot of work and I'm shocked Ethan Coen released something this half baked.

There are a few moments of enjoyment but, they are few and far between. They went for a campy feel but I never found Qualley's performance convincing and Viswanathan came off more wooden than intended. The side characters had more funny moments and funny performances than the leads.

On the plus side, the last 10-15 minutes were thoroughly entertaining. It's like they had an ending in mind and worked backwards from there. It failed miserably to build something worthy of the idea and had some unintentional cringeworthy moments.

An Ethan Coen movie and I am a big fan of his earlier work with the Coen Brothers, but I never much liked their farcical comedies and this is yet another one out of that silly comedy genre...

The bad: it's not funny. I did not laugh once. THAT matters (to me), because supposedly this is a "comedy". But humour is quite personal, so perhaps others will be roaring with laughter?

More bad: It's not thrilling WHATSOEVER. Not for one eenie minie minute is it thrilling. THAT I can guarantee you without a doubf!

This looks more like a cheaply produced television or streaming movie than a real feature movie. It lasts only 1 hour and 17 minutes and still I got bored. (A leftover from the Corona era?)

What is it then? It's a (failed) silly "comedy". Without ANY true to life characters (AT ALL). Even in a farce like this the characters have to be sympathetic or at least have something going for them that one can relate to, but none of that. Such a pity...

I am really a big fan of actress Margaret Qualley. She absolutely shined in several other movies lately, but her performance in this movie is just too plain SILLY, SO much so that her SILLY performance really (!) irritated me from the very start. That's no good...

Perhaps only suited for the fans of the earlier (much better) farcical Coen Brother comedies (Brother where art thou for example)? BUT BEWARE: this is nowhere near as good, so you have been warned !!! (3 exlamation marks)

Drive-Away Dolls is a fun road movie with a randomness that would make Burn After Reading proud. It's weird and light on its feet with a sweet romance at its centre. Similarly to the Jesus Rolls, but with a much stronger grasp on the comedic timing of everything, it's just too short to be boring.

Even though Margaret Qualley completely understands the tone of the film, her Sandy Squirrel level accent is almost too much. It really helps that Geraldine Viswanathan is very endearing and her performance is the complete opposite so it can balance out the exaggerated nature of Margaret Qualley's accent.

There's a lot of recognizable faces with small parts in the supporting cast. Matt Damon could've done more however, Colman Domingo and Bill Camp are major highlights. Bill Camp in particular, does quite a bit with what he's given to the extent an end credits scene giving him some resolution would've been great.

Ethan Coen's direction is a bit too heavy on the forced quirkiness. Overall, a lot of it works, it's just the transitions themselves that are hit and miss throughout. Some of them are really good, maintaining the rhythm and bringing a lot of energy from the beginning and there's an equal amount that feel cheap and unnecessary.

Wow, well, that was something. It's boring, stupid, and absolutely unfunny.

I didn't really have any expectations, but man, was that awful! This film literally feels like it was written by someone who has been told they are funny their entire lives, and its just not true.

Boring writing, unfunny jokes, boring characters, and a plot that is equally boring. Then Margaret Qualley, I like her. I think she's a good actress, but dear god, she can not do a southern accent.

This whole film is just nonsensical and stupid, which maybe would be funny if it was written better. I'd rather watch Logan Lucky where the jokes in that film are actually funny and the accents are better.

Anyway, suffice it to say this film didn't work for me. I can see it maybe working for others, but I'm pretty sure I'm not the target audience. At the very least, this film was short.

IMDb: 3/10 Letterboxd: 2/5

Watched in Theaters.

It's a quirky lesbian romantic comedy set in 1999 on the road between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Tallahassee, Florida. The film opens with a violent robbery and murder related to a briefcase. Then we meet Jamie (Margaret Qualley), Sukie (Beanie Feldstein), and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan). They are all quite different lesbians. Jamie, a Texan, is outgoing and unfaithful. Sukie is a police officer who throws Jamie out for being unfaithful. Marian is uptight and inexperienced and likes to read Henry James.

Jamie talks Marian into getting a drive-away car at Curlie's (Bill Camp) and traveling to Tallahassee. She hopes to loosen Marian up en route. However, the car they drive has a secret hidden in the trunk that causes three hoods to pursue them. The hoods are the talkative Arliss (Joey Slotnick), the hit first, talk later Flint (C. J. Wilson), and their boss, The Chief (Colman Domingo).

The movie follows all their experiences in their journey to Florida, including the final confrontation with an important politician (Matt Damon).

This 86-minute film is hilarious in the Coen style. I presume it is R-rated for its language, not so much for its sex, though there is some. Qualley and Viswanathan are excellent as leads. Slotnick and Wilson are a riot. It's quickly paced and doesn't take itself seriously. If you like Coen movies and are OK with the subject matter, you should enjoy this movie.

Probably if this movie was not shown as a movie that is directed by one half of the Cohen brothers, but by the two of them, viewers and critics' reactions were less Grilly. Because its Ethan Coen, by himself (+ his wife - Tricia Cooke, as a co-writer) the knives are out sooner and the heat is on, from the first moment of the movie.

It's a lesbian body-crime movie. It seems that Coen patched several ideas, gave the opportunity for some big-scale actors to perform as Cameos (and give his movie a better chance to draw crowd). Other the name dropping and short performances, the rest of the movie is a big and fun mess.

The plot line seems like a lot of other crime-body-road trip movie, the characters are almost one dimensional except maybe one of the leading characters and it seem the Coen did his best to shock his audience with an exaggerated number of scenes that imitate scenes from bigger movies, from his and others filmography.

The cartoonish characters are a feel good ones, but almost in a lot of critical stages of the film it feels too much and the audience has difficulty to really relate with them - I am talking mainly about Margaret Qualley's Jamie - the potty mouth lesbian that sleeps with everyone she comes across with.

Geraldine Viswanathan as Marian is a fish out of the water and tries to find herself as a part of a world of Imbeciles. The psychedelic transitions scenes (with another cameo) are so unclear, until they are almost clear; in the end but feel stupid and unrelated to the movie. Like an artistic statement that doesn't work.

Its not a bad movie, like its grade and its not a good or rememberable one that will stick for years to come. Its another proof that Coen is not done yet and has a lot to offer to the world of cinema, but probably will be better if he will do it, in the future, with his brother...once again.

This is probably one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen. I desperately wanted to leave after 40 minutes but stayed hoping it would get better. It did NOT. Don't waste your time or money.

From the unconnected psychedelic scenes that had NOTHING to do with the movie, the unnecessary sex scenes and the CONSTANT sex talk took away anything good about this movie. The acting was atrocious. The lame Texas "accident" was awful and her dialect coach (if she had one) should be ashamed. The fact that they were able to get Pedro, Miley and Matt to make appearances is BEYOND my comprehension. This movie is not even remotely funny.