Jamie regrets her breakup with her girlfriend, while Marian needs to relax. In search of a fresh start, they embark on an unexpected road trip to Tallahassee. Things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals.

In 2021, Joel Coen made his first movie (‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’) without the involvement of his brother, Ethan, after a fruitful lifelong partnership that had led to 18 movies, lots of awards and critical acclaim. It is now Ethan’s turn to strike on his own, and ‘Drive-Away Dolls’ certainly hues closer to the black comedy stylings that has been a common feature of their previous works, than ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’, which was more of a departure. That familiarity can often be a good thing, but it’s hard to escape the feeling that ‘Drive-Away Dolls’ is the type of movie the Coens may have chosen not to direct in the past (see ‘Gambit’ or ‘Suburbicon’) because frankly it isn’t particularly good.

To give ‘Drive-Away Dolls’ its due, it is very much intended as a B-movie and isn’t striking out to attain the levels of the Coen’s finest works. It has a loose setup centering on a misunderstanding over a briefcase that leads to it ending up in the wrong hands, specifically those of two lesbian friends (Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan) who are heading off on a road trip. This plays out in a very Coen-esque fashion with quirky villains, offbeat plot developments and extreme violence peppered throughout, but it never really stands out in its own right. If it wasn’t directed by Ethan Coen, I’d likely be writing this was a Coen Brothers knock off from a less talented filmmaker, but here we are.

It has got a decent cast, with recently Oscar nominated Colman Domingo playing one of the more prominent villains, alongside a few decent cameos/small parts from familiar faces.  The focus on female leads in Qualley, Viswanathan and Beanie Feldstein makes for a nice change from the male dominated movies that formed the bulk of the Coen Brothers previous movies, but representation can only get you so far, and the script (from Ethan and his wife Tricia Cooke) is simply not up to scratch.

So, sad to report Ethan’s first outing is a bit of a dud. It is meant to be the first in a trilogy of lesbian B-movie’s written with his wife, so let’s hope for much better in their second outing ‘Honey Don’t!’.

Rating: 2/5

Directed By: Ethan Coen

Starring: Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal, Bill Camp, Joey Slotnick, C. J. Wilson and Matt Damon

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt19356262/