DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS. Starring: Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo and Matt Damon. Directed by Ethan Coen. Rated MA15+. (Crude sexual humour, sex scenes and coarse language). 84 min.
This is a British-American film, written by director Coen and his wife Tricia Cooke. In the film, Jamie (Qualley) is in conflict about separating from her girlfriend, Marian (Viswanathan). She regrets breaking up with Marian but doesn’t want to begin another love relationship. Both decide to go on a road trip together to Tallahassee to work things out. Jamie has a string of fractured relationships behind her, and she is looking for a fresh start, preferably with Marian. Along the way, they encounter a group of criminals. There is a mix-up with the women obtaining a stolen briefcase, and the criminals in grim pursuit.
Jamie is uninhibited in nature while Marian is demure, and Marian wants more, and is envious, of the looseness that Jamie shows. The film’s co-writer has worked as editor on many Cohen brothers’ movies, including the musical comedy film, O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000). As a consequence, the scripting of the film highlights comedy-action routines.
The movie is advertised as an instance of Queer Cinema, which might be defined as the endorsement of fluid forms of sexuality that aim to reject traditional understanding of what sexuality means. The film doesn’t seriously address that kind of narrative. In a fairly unsophisticated fashion, it stays focused on lesbian sexual arousal in same sex relationships, and its mix of action adventures focuses on the ineptness of criminality more than providing a serious analysis of lesbian relationships. A great deal of interest is aroused by what is in the briefcase that the two girls find.
In this reviewer’s opinion this movie is seriously misclassified. With so much emphasis, explicitly delivered, on female sexual arousal, female body-exploration, sexual longing, masturbatory sex, and a touch of animal sex, this film is not at all suitable for MA15+ viewing. It is a film for strictly adults-only viewing.
Viewers beware! This is a film that comments in a sensational way on what it delivers. And it is a movie that delivers much more than what its advertising and rating classification imply.
Universal Pictures International
Released 22 February 2024
Margaret Qualley as ‘Jamie’ and Geraldine Viswanathan as ‘Marian’ in director Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Working Title / Focus Features
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