Drive-Away Dolls
Drive-Away Dolls
Jamie regrets her breakup with her girlfriend, while Marian needs to relax. In search of a fresh start, they embark on an unexpected road trip to Tallahassee. Things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 2, 2025
Couple things. First, I watched this immediately after watching Love Lies Bleeding. The inevitable be gay, do crime comparison doesn’t do this film any favors. Second, I’m a staunch advocate for seeing and supporting films in the theater (particularly comedies) because they work so much better as a communal experience. Laughs are infectious and a film like Drive-Away Dolls is kind of dependent on that experience. I watched this at home….alone….on my phone.
With disclaimers out of the way, I can say I was pretty disappointed by Drive-Away Dolls. Though it’s helmed by 1/2 of the Coen Brothers, it felt more like a Farrelly Brother’s movie from the 90’s than a Co-Bro Production. In fact, this has the same plot as Dumb and Dumber, both D-A-D movies coincidentally. A briefcase taken by accident, a buddy road trip, juvenile humor, while incompetent criminals are chasing them down. That’s not inherently bad. I actually love Dumb and Dumber. For whatever reason, the humor just didn’t land for me in this case.
As for the redeeming qualities, I thought Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan were excellent and wonderful on screen chemistry. Viswanathan has the more fully realized character, but Qualley get to have a little more fun with hers. And underneath the layers of raunch comedy, Viswanathan’s character does have a meaningful character arc with a sex positive message and a rather sweet happy ending.
I liked the impressive cast of supporting characters in theory, but none of them really did anything that felt impactful. Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo, Matt Damon? It really felt like I was just supposed to be impressed that just because they’re here. I mean, does Matt Damon even know that he’s allowed to say no to cameo’s? Honestly my favorite supporting players were probably Bill Camp and Joey Slotnick.
In the end I had a decent time, just not the raucously good time it felt like I should be having. Qualley and Viswanathan stars are still rising, though, so that’s good enough for me.