Ethan Coen’s first solo outing was a documentary about notorious musician Jerry Lee Lewis. A man known for his incredible piano skills and for the fact that he married his 13-year-old cousin. Obviously these two pieces of trivia don’t go hand in hand. But the latter is a sordid affair, and fact. Ethan Coen, judging by his other solo works; a book of poetry, plays and short stories, has a flair for the crude and downright filthy. Throughout the Coen Brothers’ catalogue there are moments that do really make you stand back and think, ‘why did they think of that’. A prime example is in Burn After Reading, when its revealed what George Clooney’s character, Harry Pfarrer is building in his basement. After watching Drive Away Dolls, its clear which brother thought of this.
After Jamie is thrown out by her girlfriend, she and best friend Marian take a road trip to Tallahassee, Florida. But after a mix up with their rental car, the women find they are in possession of some sensitive materials belonging to some shady people who are in hot pursuit.
Along with his wife, Tricia Cooke who co-wrote and co-produced, Ethan Coen’s second outing as director without Joel is one that, on the surface feels like just another Coen Brothers film. However, while the film does include the crime caper elements and a certain air of ridiculousness, the film is missing something. The run of the mill suspicious behaviour from the shady criminals alongside a completely different story about two friends taking a road trip and becoming more than just friends, feels like half-baked ideas, mashed together with a lot of lesbian jokes and unnecessary scenes.
Along with similar beats we have seen before from both the Coens, along with very random psychedelic moments that only sort of make sense at the end, Ethan Coen’s film feels familiar but doesn’t quite hit the right notes. This is shame as there are some great characters, amusing quite firing dialogue and one or two very funny moments, but its just not what you’re going to expect, in an unsatisfying way.