‘This film feels unimportantly important’
◆ Ethan Coen has teamed up with his wife Tricia Cooke rather than brother Joel for raucous lesbian comedy caper Driveaway Dolls, writes Rachael Davis
Decades ago, when Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke first conceived of Drive-away Dolls, they envisioned a B-movie-style transgressive comedy caper about lesbian best friends on a road-trip, an outrageous film full of outrageous fun.
Now, the filmmakers’ dream has become a reality. Starring Maid’s Margaret Qualley and The Beanie Bubble’s Geraldine Viswanathan as Jamie and Marian, Driveaway Dolls represents a new frontier in queer cinema, one that caters to, as Coen puts it, “an under-served audience for stupid gay movies”.
Written and directed by Coen brother Ethan – who, along with his brother Joel, made films such as Fargo, The Big Lebowski and No Country For Old Men – and co-written with his wife, film editor and producer Tricia Cooke, Drive-away Dolls tells a raucous story of a road trip gone wrong.
We meet the girls at a point where, frankly, their lives aren’t going great. Freespirited Jamie, played by Qualley, has just been kicked out of her apartment by her girlfriend Sukie, played by Beanie Feldstein, because of her infidelity, and upon hearing that her serious, strait-laced friend Marian, played by Viswanathan, is planning a trip to Tallahassee, Florida, she decides to join her.
They sign up with a driveaway car agency, securing a free one-way rental to the Sunshine State, and off they go. However, it turns out that they’ve mistakenly been given a car that’s already been booked by someone else – a criminal gang, no less – and it contains mysterious cargo that’s part of their illegal dealings.
The girls’ fun trip to Florida, complete with stop-offs at lesbian bars, BBQ joints and weird roadside attractions, becomes more complicated with some goons on their tail – but the loot they’re pursuing might just be something beyond their wildest imaginations.
The film is full of dirty comedy, making it not one for the faint-hearted, but Qualley and Viswanathan loved playing with the filthy humour.
“It was really fun to lean into the comedy. We had a great time,” says Qualley, 29.
“I was lucky to work with a comedy veteran like Geraldine, she’s absolutely brilliant… She’s the best. So I felt really lucky to be dipping my toe into the comedy waters in the presence of Geraldine Viswanathan!”
“I think I’m so accustomed to this dirty, nasty humour,” adds Australian actress Viswanathan, 28.
“It’s the kind of movie where we can entertain ourselves while we’re talking about it, writing it scene to scene, and we’re free to do kind of whatever,” 66-year-old Coen explains.
“It’s all liberating and fun and conducive to humour, just the kind of movie it is.”
“Liberating fun” was exactly
what Cooke, who identifies as queer, wanted to achieve with the film. “We relish happy queer cinema,” says the 58-year-old, who’s worked on many of the Coen brothers’ films.
“It’s all important. I mean, we’re a marginalised community, so it’s really important that we get as many stories out there as we can.
“When we were writing it, back in the early 2000s, it would fill a gap because there just weren’t that many. Most of the lesbian stories were tragic, didn’t have happy endings, and weren’t light hearted, which this is meant to be… they weren’t silly.”
“Now there’s been a foundation set,” adds Qualley.
“There’s been movies made
about coming out, or about the gay experience, and I feel like because part of the wound has been addressed – from my understanding – there’s a whole other conversation you can have. A whole new world has been opened up.
“So this film feels very celebratory, and as Ethan (has) said, unimportantly important.
“It’s silly, it’s ridiculous; I think, probably, without the history of the last 20 years in cinema – in gay cinema, specifically – (we) probably wouldn’t be able to have this movie.”
Cooke drew from her own life and experiences for creating the central characters in Drive-away Dolls – both the free-wheeling
Jamie and the uptight Marian.
“The Jamie character is based on a close friend of mine, that kind of ballsto-the-wall free spirit and promiscuity came from someone that is very close to me,” she explains.
“And then we wanted to come up with a character who was the yin to that yang. Ethan will say that the repressed Marian is based on him, but I don’t know!
“We wanted to create two interesting, strong female characters. And the kind of embracing (of ) a sexual world was really important to us, to be able to put women, lesbians, having sex that was fun and a little free was important to us.”
The stars agree that
Cooke’s influence was tangible throughout the film. While Drive-away Dolls undoubtedly has that Coen energy that fans will recognise and enjoy, Viswanathan says.
“I think her lived experience of lesbian bars in the 90s… so much of this is infused with Tricia’s life and perspective,” says the star. “And Ethan really just supported a lot of that, and they collaborated, but I feel like it’s a whole lot of Trish.”
“My understanding is that Ethan made this both with and for Trish,” adds Qualley.
“That’s so true,” says Viswanathan. “A love letter to Trish.”