YNOT at the Movies

The Academy-award winning brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen teamed together and made many American classics, such as "Fargo" (1996) and "No Country for Old Men" (2007). After 18 films as co-writer-directors, the brothers decided to each make films on his own. The first solo directional work for Joel Coen is the stylish Shakespearean "The Tragedy of Macbeth" (2021), with his wife Frances McDormand playing the protagonist. On the other hand, Joel's brother Ethan Coen's first solo directorial work, "Drive-Away Dolls" (USA 2024 | 84 min.) which is co-written by his wife Tricia Cooke, is a completely different type of film. It's a campy lesbian farce that was originally titled "Drive-Away Dykes." The story line is too thin and far-fetched to be considered as a serious drama, it is not funny enough to be a comedy, and it's hardly thrilling.

In the film, the free-spirited and sex-positive Jamie (Margaret Qualley) breaks up with her cop girlfriend Sukie (Beanie Feldstein), and gets kicked out of the apartment. She convinces her restrained friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) to go on a road trip to Tallahassee, Florida with her in a drive-away car. Jamie wants to make the journey a sex-filled fun trip with lesbian bar hopping and BBQ tasting. Marian wants to just finish her book and revisit her childhood experience when she peeked at her neighbor's naked sunbathing woman.

Little do they know, the drive-away car that Jamie and Marian are supposed to deliver in Tallahassee has a briefcase in the trunk that belongs to a group of criminals, and the briefcase is involved in a murder at the opening scene of the film. Marina is irritated by Jamie's hook-ups along the way, and the criminals are chasing after them trying to get the briefcase back.

The predictable story is not only thin, but also dubious. Back in 1999, LGBTQ people could only meet others in locations such as local bookstores or gay bars. Yet, Jamie and Marina seem to have great luck being able to join lesbian orgies on the road. The criminals in the film are like clowns and you will feel even more ridiculous when you see what's in that briefcase that they have been chasing after. The director Ethan Coen does not even try to make you believe the plot, he wants the film to be campy and wild, but he is no comparison to John Waters in that regard.

The comedy in the film is as weak as the plot. I am not sure how many lesbian couples have a dildo mounted in their apartments, but if you think it's funny that Sukie tries to get a dildo off the wall when she kicks Jamie out of the apartment, then you might find the rest of the film funny.

If you are looking for a road trip movie featuring hilarious lesbian couples, check out the comedy gold "Cloudburst" (2011) with the wonderful late Olympia Dukakis, and stay away from this drive-away trip to Tallahassee.

"Drive-Away Dolls" opens in the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday, February 23, 2024.