Drive Away Dolls first reactions describe Ethan Coen’s road trip comedy as fast paced, silly, and funny

The first reactions to director Ethan Coen’s road trip comedy Drive Away Dolls lean toward the positive, with talk of laughs and a fast pace

By Cody Hamman

February 8th 2024, 2:48pm

The legendary sibling directing duo of Joel and Ethan Coen went their separate directorial ways after the 2018 film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and while there’s talk they’re going to be reuniting to make a horror movie, in the meantime we’ve gotten Joel’s first solo directing effort with The Tragedy of Macbeth, and we’ll be seeing Ethan’s first solo directing effort when Focus Features brings the road trip comedy caper Drive Away Dolls to theatres on February 23rd. Some critics have already had a chance to see the movie, and with two weeks to go until its wide release, the first reactions have started showing up online. We have gathered some of them together below.

First, we have a reaction from JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray:

Caught #DriveAwayDolls recently. Very much a loving homage to love on the run b-movies, with it having the retro vibe of something from Showtime’s Rebel Highway series in the nineties. Very Coen-esque, but meant to be an 80min B-movie, for better or worse.
— JoBlo.com (@joblocom) February 8, 2024

The majority of the reactions available now lean toward the positive, with viewers having fun laughing along with this fast paced, silly movie:

DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS zips along for a brisk 84 minutes, leaving little room to catch your breath amidst its uproarious laughs & outrageous twists and turns. The entire cast is clearly having a blast working with this screenplay. While undeniably uneven & somewhat overshadowed by far… pic.twitter.com/j1OPdKRfFH
— Matt Neglia (@NextBestPicture) February 8, 2024

#DriveAwayDolls is a zany road trip with committed performances from Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan, reminiscent of a Three Stooges routine that, at times, pushes beyond the comedic threshold. Ethan is the funny Coen Brother. pic.twitter.com/sBazlqercO
— Eric Marchen (@EM6211) February 8, 2024

Drive-Away Dolls doesn’t stop dead in its tracks to point out it’s a queer story. It simply is by leaning on the silliness of Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan’s shining chemistry. An unserious, B-movie that’s more concerned with laughter than a profound narrative. pic.twitter.com/zu7maZ7jQv
— Edgar Ortega (@edgorteg) February 8, 2024

I had a blast with DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS, which gave me just the blast of Coen-style quirk I’ve been missing. Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan are a perfect fit as a pair of lesbians on the run in a VERY Coen-esque American South. Some risks don’t pay off, but the laughs do. pic.twitter.com/bech3jlQuh
— Dancin' Dan in MovieLand (@dancindanonfilm) February 8, 2024

#DriveAwayDolls is one of the most fast paced movies I have ever seen. At 84 minutes, it’s a little too rushed for me at times but thanks to a zany script and committed performances, especially from Qualley and Viswanathan, it comes together for a chaotically beautiful viewing… pic.twitter.com/yWj6Ceakek
— BSL (@bigscreenleaks) February 8, 2024

Drive-Away Dolls is much sillier than I expected, as well as sexier, but it gets funnier as it goes along. Plus, Margaret Qualley just runs away with the film. Ethan Coen essentially is making his Judd Apatow comedy, with entertaining results.@DriveAwayDolls #DriveAwayDolls pic.twitter.com/3F6vCFMdSE
— Joey Magidson (@JoeyMagidson) February 8, 2024

Of course, no film is for absolutely everyone, so here’s a negative reaction as well:

DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS is a misfire. Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan and Beanie Feldstein are all wonderful but the story is all over the place. It can never decide what it wants to be, and all the different films it tries to be never come together. Just not for me in any way pic.twitter.com/t2wKceX97L
— Darren Movie Reviews (@dmoviereviews) February 8, 2024

Scripted by Ethan Coen and his wife Tricia Cooke, Drive Away Dolls follows Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian, who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.

Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan star as Jamie and Marian. They’re joined in the cast by Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal, Bill Camp, and Matt Damon.

Coen and Cooke produced the film with Robert Graf, Tim Bevan, and Eric Fellner.

Drive Away Dolls was first announced in 2007, at which time Allison Anders (Gas Food Lodging) was going to be directing the film from Coen and Cooke’s script. Selma Blair, Holly Hunter, Christina Applegate, and Chloë Sevigny were all considered for the lead roles… but the film never made it into production until Coen decided to take the helm in 2022.

What do you think of the first reactions to Drive Away Dolls? Are you looking forward to seeing this movie? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Whether they’re alone, working as a team, or not even directing the movie, I see anything the Coen brothers are involved with, so I will definitely be watching Drive Away Dolls.

About the Author

Cody Hamman

16356 Articles Published

Cody is a news editor and film critic, focused on the horror arm of JoBlo.com, and writes scripts for videos that are released through the JoBlo Originals and JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channels. In his spare time, he's a globe-trotting digital nomad, runs a personal blog called Life Between Frames, and writes novels and screenplays.