Two years after Joel Coen showed the world what he was capable of as a solo filmmaker with “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” his brother Ethan Coen is preparing to take a similar plunge. Ethan flew solo behind the camera for “Drive-Away Dolls,” his upcoming road trip comedy that he co-wrote with his wife Tricia Cooke. The film, which dropped its first trailer today, appears to fit squarely into the crime-gone-wrong comedic niche that made the Coens household names.
According to the film’s official synopsis, “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.
“Drive-Away Dolls” stars Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Pedro Pascal, Matt Damon, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, and Annie Gonzalez.
Though he directed the 2022 rock documentary “Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind,” “Drive-Away Dolls” marks Ethan Coen’s first narrative feature since he took an indefinite hiatus from making movies with his brother Joel. While promoting “Trouble in Mind,” Ethan Coen explained that the split was the result of burnout after the difficult process of shooting “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.”
“Nothing happened, certainly nothing dramatic,” Coen said. “You start out when you’re a kid and you want to make a movie. Everything’s enthusiasm and gung-ho, let’s go make a movie. And the first movie is just loads of fun. And then the second movie is loads of fun, almost as much fun as the first. And after 30 years, not that it’s no fun, but it’s more of a job than it had been.”
In the same 2022 interview, Ethan Coen refused to rule out the possibility of re-teaming with Joel on another project in the future.
“Going our own separate ways sounds like it suggests it might be final,” he said. “But none of this stuff happened definitively. None of the decisions are definitive. We might make another movie.
Focus Features will release “Drive-Away Dolls” in theaters on Friday, September 22. Watch the new trailer below.
