Drive-Away Dolls
SPOILERS Watching 2024's DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS is almost certain to make fans of the Coen Brothers exclaim, "O brother, where art thou?" This is because brother Ethan's maiden solo outing as director feels more like a Coens fan idea of a Coen Brothers movie than the real deal. It often looks and sounds like one. It draws much of the same comic inspiration and ideas found in RAISING ARIZONA, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, BARTON FINK, FARGO, and BURN AFTER READING. Even a bit of OLD COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. But also INTOLERABLE CRUELTY and THE LADYKILLERS. More of the latter, a one-two punch in the early aughts of dubious attempts at out and out comedy that was a low period for Ethan and Joel. Ethan co-wrote this thing with his wife Tricia Cooke. A buddy road trip comedy with the relative novelty of having two lesbians as our protagonists: Jamie (Margaret Qualley), a brash, promiscuous, and street wise Texan, and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), reserved and bookish. Marian...
