Directed by: Ethan Coen
Starring: Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Bill Camp, Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal, Beanie Feldstein, Joey Slotnick, Colman Domingo, Miley Cyrus, C. J. Wilson
Drive-Away Dolls is a blatant shot at Florida politics and Ron DeSantis, even though the story takes place in 1999. Even though DeSantis' political stature has taken a massive hit with his failed presidential run, the idea is still timely. It is a story of two lesbian friends, the uptight Marian (Viswanathan) and Jamie (Qualley), the free spirit with the deep Southern drawl who light out for Florida after Jamie breaks up with her police officer girlfriend (Feldstein). Directed by Ethan Coen (one-half of the immortal Coen Brothers), Drive-Away Dolls tries to capture the spirit of Fargo without a substantial story. The one positive is the movie has the courtesy of an 85-minute running time.
The crime element of the plot is when Jamie and Marian show up at a dingy, low-rent drive-away rental car facility and say they want to drop a car off in Tallahassee, Florida. The owner (Camp) assumes these are the drivers of a vehicle bound for Tallahassee to be driven by criminals with a suitcase in the trunk. The real drivers show up to learn the car is already gone and their boss (Domingo) beats up the hapless owner and does recon on the girls while the bickering thugs make their way to Tallahassee.
Jamie and Marian have no clue there is anything wrong with the car and stop off so Jamie could pick up one-night stands and the buttoned-up Marian can sip her drink and be uncomfortable. She prefers to sit in the motel room and read books, while Jamie attends slumber parties with a college softball team making out with almost all of its members. Meanwhile, the thugs argue and manage to stay within sniffing distance of Jamie and Marian.
The trouble is: The plot isn't anything we care about. The actors are likable enough and do the best they can, but the material is flimsy as action, comedy, and romance. Drive-Away Dolls tries to awkwardly combine these elements. In some cases, this may work. Not here.
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