Drive-Away Dolls
Movie, 2024, Solo, Set in Ethan Coen
Drive-Away Dolls is #20 of 21 in release order and #20 of 21 in chronological order in the The Coen Brothers.
The story
Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.
Drive-Away Dolls recap
Drive-Away Dolls (2024) follows two lesbian friends driving from Philadelphia to Florida in a car that secretly carries cargo wanted by criminals. In 1999, free-spirited Jamie (Margaret Qualley) is thrown out by her police officer girlfriend Sukie (Beanie Feldstein) and joins her uptight friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) on a trip to Tallahassee. A drive-away service gives them a car meant for a gang of crooks, with a briefcase and the severed head of Santos (Pedro Pascal) in the trunk. Jamie wants to stop at every lesbian bar on the route while Marian reads Henry James. Two henchmen, Arliss and Flint, chase them south on orders from the Chief (Colman Domingo). The briefcase holds plaster casts tied to Senator Gary Channel (Matt Damon). Ethan Coen directed it from a script with his wife Tricia Cooke, his first narrative feature without Joel. It follows The Tragedy of Macbeth on the Solo films rail.
Drive-Away Dolls ending explained
Drive-Away Dolls ends with Jamie and Marian driving to Massachusetts to marry. The henchmen catch them, but Flint shoots his partners in a quarrel and the women escape. They arrange to sell the last cast to Senator Channel for a million dollars at a lesbian bar. Sukie arrives as a police officer, and when Channel tries to kill them she shoots him; he survives, but the scandal ruins him. The film is the first of a planned trilogy of lesbian B-movies by Coen and Cooke, followed by Honey Don't!
Where to watch Drive-Away Dolls
Drive-Away Dolls is streaming on Peacock in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 5.4/10, Rotten Tomatoes 63%
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Tragedy of Macbeth, before Honey Don't!.
- Chronological order: after The Tragedy of Macbeth, before Honey Don't!.
Cast
- Margaret Qualley as Jamie
- Geraldine Viswanathan as Marian
- Beanie Feldstein as Sukie
- Joey Slotnick as The Goon
- C.J. Wilson as The Goon
- Colman Domingo as The Chief
- Pedro Pascal as Penis Collector
- Bill Camp as Curlie
- Matt Damon as Senator Gary Channel
- Connie Jackson as Aunt Ellis
- Annie Gonzalez as Carla
- Gordon MacDonald as Cicero's Waiter
Directed by Ethan Coen.