TL;DR – It is a wild but somewhat inconsistent ride that will bring the laughs but probably does not have the lasting effect they were going for.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Drive-Away Dolls Review –

The early 200s was a wild time for the raunchy road trip film, with gems like Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and EuroTrip. For a while, they had fallen out of fashion, maybe because the old focus of those films no longer ran true for modern audiences. However, in the last few years, we have started to see a resurgence in this genre, and it is just such a film that we are looking at today.  

So to set the scene, we opened in Philadelphia in 1999 on the cusp of the new Millennium or, as it was known at the time, the Willennium. Here, there are two good friends, Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), who could not be more different. But when Jamie breaks up with her girlfriend Sukie (Beanie Feldstein), well more, she gets dumped after multiple cheating incidents. Jamie decides to tag along on Marian’s trip to Tallahassee, Florida, to help Marian get some. The only problem is that Jamie persuades Marian to use a service to cut down on the cost by driving a car down there for free (a drive-away). The only problem is that something else might be taking the trip with them, a something that many people want.

 Drive-Away Dolls is a bit of an odd film because there are times when it goes to 11 and beyond, right at the start, and then there are times when it is pretty reserved. This makes it a hard film to try and get a handle on as it blasts down the East Coast of America. For every ‘what is in the case’ moment, there are many more that feel forced. Part of this probably reflects the personalities of the two leads and how much they differ, but it does create a tonal dissonance at times that is hard to shift.

One of the strengths of the film is the chemistry between the two leads. You absolutely know that Marian and Jamie are friends down to the core. It helps that both of the actors give haymaker performances that hold nothing back. We also get a film filled with character actors getting to do their thing. For example, everything that comes out of Bill Camp’s mouth as Curlie is gold and Colman Domingo is having a lot of fun.

However, you can’t help but feel that a lot of the cast the film is resting its hat on are barely cameos. To add to this, there is a running motif throughout the film that feels at odds with the time and setting that they are going for. Some plot points will make you go ‘Really?’ which unfortunately pulls you out of the narrative at times. All of this can lead to some quite jarring intersections at times.       


In the end, do we recommend Drive-Away Dolls? Well, I should be clear if you are not already aware that this is a hard-R-rated film with a lot of sex, violence, and language, and that will be an understandable barrier for some people. For me, there were laughs to be found in the film, but I am not sure it had the lasting effect that the filmmakers were going for. If you liked Drive-Away Dolls, we would recommend to you Joy Ride.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Drive-Away Dolls
Directed by – Ethan Coen
Written by – Ethan Coen & Tricia Cooke
Music by – Carter Burwell
Cinematography by – Ari Wegner
Edited by – Tricia Cooke
Production/Distribution Companies – Working Title Films, Focus Features & Universal Pictures
Starring – Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Bill Camp, Joey Slotnick & C. J. Wilson with Connie Jackson, Annie Gonzalez, Sam Vartholomeos, John Menchion, Jordan Zatawski, Samsara Yett, Layne Lazor, Cristina Contreras & Josh Flitter and Pedro Pascal, Matt Damon & Miley Cyrus  
Rating – Australia: MA15+; Canada: 14A; Germany: na; New Zealand: R; United Kingdom: 15; United States: R