It is fair to say I like seeing new things on screen. Or, at least, I enjoy variations on established patterns and not just tired retreads and clichés. With that thought in mind, it may be a while before I see another scene of a jilted lover spitefully unscrewing the wall-affixed dildo from her home. Yup, that was a new one to me.
A delightful new one in the kind of comedy where you’re smiling a lot despite yourself.
In the opening of this film, Pedro Pascal takes a corkscrew to the neck which raised a question I’d never considered: if you take a corkscrew to the neck, is it better to remove it in one sharp pull or unscrew it? Hopefully, I’ll never learn the answer.
While Pedro Pascal doesn’t make it until the opening credits, his decapitated head does. Paired with arguably the most hilarious MacGuffin in film history, the plot of Drive-Away Dolls has the head-of-Pedro traveling south with the right car, but the wrong drivers.
Those drivers? A lesbian, not-involved, odd couple, Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan). Jamie is a free spirit; Marian is a square. Jamie was in a relationship with Sukie (Beanie Feldstein), but Sukie dumped Jamie and kicked her out because Jamie can’t keep it in her pants. That seems an odd thing to say about a lesbian … but it’s 100% accurate.
Meanwhile, Marian has had enough of Philadelphia and decides it’s time to move to Tallahassee, 
Florida. Why Tallahassee? Because of the Spanish moss and live oak. Jamie spends her nights doing things like going to the Sugar and Spice lesbian strip club. Marian likes to read Henry James, as she does when the two become Drive-Away Dolls after picking up a car headed one way.
The car, of course, contains the head of Pedro Pascal and the MacGuffin. It was intended for different drivers. Hence, this film is a take on the buddy road pic. However, I can’t remember the last buddy road pic I saw with a visit to party with a lesbian soccer team. Oh, and the girls have one day to get the car to Tallahassee. Well, you know that ain’t happening.
This is a film I enjoyed so much that I almost wished I hadn’t been because I felt guilty a bit about it. Is it OK for me to get a big laugh out of lesbian behavior? Screw it, I’m laughing anyway. Geraldine Viswanathan and Beanie Feldstein were already two of my favorite young actresses. Add the outrageous Southern bluster of Margaret Qualley and these are three actresses who are already going to be employed in the film world for the next 20 years minimum. Whether or not they take the next step is up to them. Drive-Away Dolls is a delight and I was both surprised and relieved to see it had been a product of writer/director Ethan Coen, because now I feel perfectly justified in my love of this film.
There once were two migrating gals
Who seemed to be oddly matched pals
For the prude seemed stuffy
And got altogether huffy
With the other focused entirely on genitals
Rated R, 84 Minutes
Director: Ethan Coen
Writer: Ethan Coen, Tricia Cooke
Genre: Snickering and nudging
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: LBGTQ+
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: I imagine this one won’t play well with the kind of folks who enjoy restricting abortion rights
