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Drive-Away Dolls sounds like the title of a Thelma And Louise-style movie, but it’s not quite that.
First-up – and this must be an American term as I haven’t come across it, “Drive-away” means to order a car to be delivered to a particular location, so you can pick it up and drive away, or simply collect from the location at which it’s been ordered.
Taking place in Philadelphia, 1999, Pedro Pascal has a cameo as a nefarious character who’ll soon be relieved of his special suitcase by a waiter, who’s certainly stepping beyond his station.
For best friends, uninhibited Jamie (Margaret Qualley – Maid) and bookish Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan – Cat Person) – the former of whom has just broken up with girlfriend Sukie (Beanie Feldstein – Lady Bird) – are heading out, but inadvertently are assigned a car belonging to someone else, which the goons (Joey Slotnick, CJ Wilson) – who are always arguing amongst themselves with the brains of the Marx Brothers – want back because it contains a particular something…
Since it’s not shown in the trailer, I’ll put the contents in the spoiler header below.
While out on the road to Tallahassee, we learn Marian hasn’t had sex in years, so Jamie wants to get her laid, whilst wanting “a lesbian adventure full of cunnilingus”, but it’s amazing the former manages to put up with the latter when after declaring the novel she’s reading is written by Henry James, Jamie asks, “Is he related to Rick James?”
The best performance comes from Bill Camp (Joker) as drive-away company owner Curlie, in a very understated role. He’s quite brilliant in this.
Also taking in Matt Damon – who also starred alongside Bill Camp in Jason Bourne – as a nervous Senator, while Drive-Away Dolls is certainly an amusing film and is worth a watch, the plot is ridiculous and on the whole, it’s not quite the sum of its parts.
As an aside, at one point, Jamie and Marian are drinking glasses of champagne in a restaurant, but during the scene, there’s several continuity errors in terms of their contents.
Plus, while there isn’t a post-credits scene, there is the bit below as the credits begin. I also understand that potential sequels are planned for this, but that would depend on the box-office receipts, and in its opening weekend, the 4pm Sunday screening audience consisted of just myself and one other person.
Drive-Away Dolls is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray/DVD Limited Edition, ahead of its release date of June 17th 2024.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 84 minutes
Release date: March 15th 2024
Studio: Focus Features
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (ARRIRAW (4.6K), Spherical)
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 6.5/10
Director: Ethan Coen
Producers: Tim Bevan, Ethan Coen, Tricia Cooke, Eric Fellner, Robert Graf
Screenplay: Ethan Coen, Tricia Cooke
Music: Carter Burwell
Cast:
Jamie: Margaret Qualley
Marian: Geraldine Viswanathan
Sukie: Beanie Feldstein
The Goons: Joey Slotnick, CJ Wilson
The Chief: Colman Domingo
Penis Collector: Pedro Pascal
Curlie: Bill Camp
Senator Gary Channel: Matt Damon
Aunt Ellis: Connie Jackson
Carla: Annie Gonzalez
Cicero’s Waiter: Gordon MacDonald
Bart: Sam Vartholomeos
Old Man at Slappy’s: John Menchion
Turkish Hotel Man: Michael Counihan
Doreen: Abby Hilden
Soccer Girls: Haley Holmes, Fatima Fine, Sam Mazzei
Young Senator Channel: Jordan Zatawski
Young Marian: Samsara Yett
Sunbathing Woman: Savanna Ziegler
Sunbather’s Husband: Michael Worden
El Conquistador Desk Clerk: Braxton McCollum
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.