Between 1984 and 2018, we acquired 18 characteristic movies and two anthology segments by “the Coen Brothers”, and regardless of a large, eclectic vary of genres, tales, and tones, these movies collective show a particularly unified inventive voice. Between 2021 and 2024, we now have two characteristic movies made by solely Joel Coen and solely Ethan Coen, and now that we’ve one movie from each side of that severed inventive union to go by, it is exceptional how precisely they appear to have break up that unbelievably unified voice in half. So exceptional that I’m vaguely unwilling to belief that it is not a very high-level experiment they’re working on the remainder of it. However let’s go forward and take it at face worth, and gawk at how exactly Ethan’s solo narrative characteristic debut, Drive-Away Dolls (he had already made his solo directorial debut with a documentary, 2022’s Jerry Lee Lewis: Bother in Thoughts), shows precisely the customary “Coensque” traits that weren’t current in Joel’s solo characteristic debut in 2021, The Tragedy of Macbeth. What Joel acquired within the divorce: breathtakingly attractive formal precision, which incorporates however is not restricted to awe-inspiringly exact cinematography; a fascination with the meta-narratives of genres, telling a narrative that is as extra of a breakdown of how tales like that get advised than a satisfying exemplar thereof; a generously packed ensemble of recognisable character actors; laser-sharp modifying; Frances McDormand* What Ethan acquired: arch, brittle, extremely rhythmic dialogue; wild blasts of extraordinarily vulgar language and violently dopey comedy; cartoony accents; across-the-board nice performances from actors keen to look insane and demented on digicam and trusting the director to secure them from being ridiculous; modifying filled with extremely seen, playful prospers. I feel the completely solely level of commonality is that Carter Burwell continues to be enjoying each side, offering each movies with spare musical shops based mostly extra in a desolate temper than something like recognisable melody.

Or we might simply say “seems Joel was the formalist and Ethan was the comic”, which will get us most of the best way there, however it does not clarify why Drive-Away Dolls would break so onerous from the exact stylistic management of the brothers’ movies collectively. I might make clear earlier than going any additional that I loved Drive-Away Dolls fairly a bit (it is solidly lower-mid-tier by the requirements of the Coen mixed filmography), even when The Tragedy of Macbeth is rather more my velocity. It has an exceptionally good ensemble forged, is the principle power, and the regionally-defined weirdoes who’ve been a treasure within the Coen universe because it started are notably well-served by the mannered performances given by just about everyone with talking strains – I used to be going to say, “everyone with a named half”, besides two of the movie’s finest performances are given by Joey Slotnick and C.J. Wilson as a pair of bantering henchman each credited as “The Goon”. Fairly often, it is not a lot that the movie is humorous-funny as that the performing exists in such a splendidly offbeat mode that it has the aura of funniness, no matter whether or not the jokes are hitting with all potential drive.

In honesty, they don’t seem to be at all times. I hinted at it, however to say it immediately: Drive-Away Dolls is a reasonably shaggy, even sloppy film. I do not suppose that is unintentional, or at the least I do not suppose it is unwitting. If it’s the case that Joel was the one machining the brothers’ movies to an immaculately-engineered type, it is not onerous to suppose that Ethan, and his spouse Tricia Cooke, who co-wrote the script for this movie and serves as its editor, was comfortable to have an opportunity to only cling. It is a little bit shocking to listen to such unmistakably Coenesque strains and cadences within the dialogue married to such easygoing, imprecise filmmaking, however it’s probably not a “dangerous” factor”. There is a feisty vitality taking place right here that hasn’t been so seen in any of Ethan’s movies along with his brother because the Nineteen Nineties, and even additional again (this most resembles The Massive Lebowski and Elevating Arizona, I might say in that order, of something within the Coens’ filmography. Although Margaret Qualley, enjoying one of many two leads, may be very a lot channeling George Clooney in O Brother, The place Artwork Thou?). It is very satisfying and enjoyable and messily human, and a part of me appears like we get there, partially, by the movie not worrying a lot about being “hermetic” when it could possibly simply let the actors vibe collectively onscreen.

It’s nice vibing. The straightforward model of the story is that Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan – whose most noteworthy credit score until now was in being unmemorable in 2018’s Blockers, so apparently Ethan additionally acquired the “extract exceptional performances from actors who have not had an opportunity to point out off like this earlier than” gene – are an odd-couple pair of lesbians who journey from Philadelphia to Tallahassee over just a few days in 1999. Qualley’s Jamie is a Southern-fried assortment of slurry vitality and informal folks knowledge, hooked up to informal intercourse and residing with out penalties; Viswanathan’s Marian is a stick-in-the-mud prude who has an unyielding attachment to guidelines. We aren’t reinventing the wheel right here. However the two actors are so unbelievably good collectively, enjoying Coen & Cooke’s stylised, heightened dialogue in two very completely different registers (Qualley is letting her drawling accent carry her via the entire whorls within the writing like a slow-moving wave crashing into the shore, Viswanathan performs the whole lot with a clipped, rhythmic high quality, virtually typing out strains together with her mouth greater than saying them), after which letting the complementary mismatch of their performing deliver them to the character battle within the characters, relatively than simply enjoying the umpteenth model of Felix and Oscar, solely now they’re lesbians (and I doubt very a lot this is able to be near the primary time that variant on the system, both). The movie itself appears to hold two completely different energies alongside its total working time, and whereas it is nonetheless a film, so it is in no way shocking the place this goes or which of the 2 characters finally ends up “profitable”, it by no means feels pre-ordained that it is going to find yourself within the inevitable place.

The chemistry between the leads is such a dominant facet of what Drive-Away Dolls is that the entire remainder of the film can get away, decently effectively, with principally simply shrugging about the whole lot. The precise story? Certain, it exists. Marian has causes to go to Tallahassee and Jamie has causes to get the hell out of Philly – she simply exploded the newest in a line of relationships, with police officer Sukie (Beanie Feldstein) – so at Jamie’s urging the 2 seize a job taking a “drive-away” right down to Florida – that’s, a automobile that needs to be delivered someplace and left there. Seems like an ideal entrance if you wish to smuggle one thing, and sadly, Curlie the drive-away man (Invoice Camp, exquisitely deadpan in a small position) has gotten his wires crossed, which is how Jamie and Marian find yourself smuggling one thing that was imagined to be smuggled by the 2 aforementioned goons, on behalf of crime boss The Chief (Colman Domingo). And so our heroes find yourself idly shimmying from city to city, unaware that they are being chased by very harmful males, staying forward of them largely as a result of it is inconceivable for anybody as much as and together with Marian to foretell what zigs and zags Jamie will tackle her quest to seek out the appropriate lesbian bar hiding away within the U.S. South the place Marian can get laid.

Unbelievably rote stuff, however it does not matter. What makes Drive-Away Dolls price watching is that it is taking all of its cues from Jamie, and simply sort of swinging from place to put, falling backwards into enjoyable concepts and never bothering to strive very onerous. How a lot enjoyable one has with that is considerably contingent on having a excessive tolerance for some terribly raunchy dialogue and as-far-as-an-R-rating-can-take-us scenes of cunnilingus (the movie is principally a parody of an exploitation movie), although I feel simply the sheer drive of will Qualley brings to Jamie is sufficient for it to be enjoyable in a extra common sense. Coen and Cooke are having lots of enjoyable fooling around, each within the script and within the common building of the factor: Cooke’s modifying consists of some wild scene transitions so unfathomably chintzy and tasteless that I’m 100% sure that being tasteless was a part of the purpose, and it is all meant to be a enjoyable little bit of bouncy, high-energy cartoon nonsense. Which will get again to the factor the place this does really feel awfully slapped collectively in lots of methods, and generally it may be irritating how very tossed-off this all is. Cinematographer Ari Wegner is staging some very entertaining compositions, however her lighting has no apparent rhyme or purpose, going from motivated realism to pure nonsense shade explosions to dramatic shafts of dusky gentle to sizzling and flat and never very attention-grabbing, with none clear grounding in what the script is as much as throughout these moments. The script itself typically appears like an approximation of a narrative that hopes we can’t pay too a lot consideration; generally, as within the deeply silly rationalization of what the MacGuffin is, that is fairly clearly on function, however generally it feels just like the writers had an concept at one level in an early draft and acquired hooked up to it with out remembering why. I do not know why that is set in 1999, a yr that particularly doesn’t match the one line of dialogue in the entire film acknowledging a universe exterior of this gonzo story (it is the second-to-last line within the movie, so it stands out). Manufacturing designer Yong Okay Lee and set decorator Nancy Haigh additionally don’t appear to have understood why this was set in 1999, and have put little or no effort in any way into getting it proper.

I imply, I had fun. However it’s not a decent film, and doubtless the perfect factor about it after the leads’ chemistry is that it has a remarkably quick working time of 84 minutes, together with credit, so it does not actually take lots of momentum to coast it over the end line. Coen and Cooke’s promise that they’ve two extra of those lined up doesn’t really feel like a risk, actually, however I feel they acquired about as a lot out of this as they might earlier than the diminishing returns are going to kick in. However in its personal proper, this works, and having this type of crude throwback to the ’90s indie movies that had been riffing on ’70s exploitation movies, all the best way right here in 2024, is a pleasant deal with. It is simple to name this “only a lark”, however it’s not simply a lark, actually; it is uncommon and fantastic for a lark to be this confident and swaggering. Nonetheless hoping that the brothers discover their method again collectively in some unspecified time in the future, but when Ethan wanted to discover a new inventive associate to get this dizzy, soiled, sweet-natured bauble out of his mind and into the world, it was well worth the break.

Tim Brayton is the editor-in-chief and first critic at Alternate Ending. He has been recognized to point out up on Letterboxd, writing about much more films than he does right here.

*To be honest, it could be bizarre as hell if, throughout Joel and Ethan’s skilled separation, Ethan turned out to be the one one who started working with Joel’s spouse.