Year of Release: 2024
Director: Ethan Coen
Starring: Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Joey Slotnick, C.J. Wilson, Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal, Bill Camp, Matt Damon, Connie Jackson, Annie Gonzalez, John Menchion
Genre: Comedy, Action
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 1
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review
When the Coen brothers decide to take a break from collaborating with each other, everyone was curious as to what exactly they would do next on their own. Joel Coen came out with the celebrated "The Tragedy of Macbeth", which featured an arresting central performance from Denzel Washington, alongside some fantastic cinematography and production design. Ethan Coen's output in narrative features has finally come out and has turned out to be "Drive-Away Dolls". And definitely much less "Raising Arizona" and definitely much more something indescribable. The film follows the story of two good friends, Jamie and Marian. They're both lesbians, and while Marian is the slightly uptight and more introverted of the two, she's also single and has been so for quite a while. Jamie on the other hand is currently in a relationship with a police officer by the name of Sukie, who is about to break it off, as Jamie is more liberal in her affections, and has been seeing other people while living with Sukie. Jamie is aware that Marian is planning a trip to Tallahassee, Florida and decides to tag along to get some distance from all the drama in Philadelphia (where they live). She suggests they use a drive-away car service. The car service office mistakes them for another client, and gives them a car that has been marked, and has in its trunk some very sensitive content. The young women start on their journey, and they're soon being tailed by some rather violent fiends who want what they're carrying.
You would think based on the brief summarization of this feature, that this would be a riotous and immensely funny endeavor, much like Martin Brest's "Midnight Run" or even a slightly more sapphic version of Ridley Scott's "Thelma and Louise", with more laughs thrown in. Sadly the film fails to have any enthusiasm/rhythm, and almost no actual comical moments. The characters have absolution no dimension or nuance to them, which in certain situations can be passed on as an economical way to illustrate the narrative ("Raising Arizona" had basically sketches disguised as characters, and to this day is still an immensely enjoyable feature), however for a film that is running on fumes when it comes to actual content, this particular aspect is perplexing. Actually come to think of it, the most surprising endeavor about this film is how amateurish and poorly put together it seems to be, so much so, that I caught myself thinking: "Is this deliberately so bad that I'm actually missing on how good it can possibly be?". It is dastardly written, and the poor cast tries their best to sound invested and infuse some quirkiness into these characters, but it's a bit like attempting to bring to life an inert and lifeless object. The only thing commendable about this film is in reality the great talent that Ethan Coen managed to assemble, which includes Margaret Qualley, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Bill Camp, Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal. The production team also gets wasted, though the only highlight goes to Carter Burwell's score, as the cinematography is generically forgettable, the same going for the production and costume design. There's nothing wrong with playing a different chord or trying a different tune when you do a solo project, but this is possibly one of the worst features I've seen in a while. And that's saying something. Avoid.
0 comments:
Post a Comment