Thursday, October 3, 2024

Ethan Coen’s Gay Thelma and Louise Comedy with Margaret Qualley Looks Like Darling of Toronto, Telluride Fall Film Festivals

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This is a little unexpected.

Ethan Coen, working solo and not with brother Joel, has made a movie with his wife, Tricia Cooke, the Coens’ film editor. “Drive Away Dolls” is described as a “queer comedy,” a kind of kooky “Thelma and Louise” for the 2020s.

“Drive Away Dolls” premieres September 22nd, so look for it to be front and center at the Telluride and Toronto film fests. It’s almost curious that it’s unspooling a few days before the New York Film Festival.

The film stars Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan, with Beanie Feldstein, Pedro Pascal, Matt Damon, Colman Domingo, and Bill Camp. This Ethan’s first movie without brother Joel, who made his own award winning film, “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” two years ago.

Cooke, who’s been married to Coen since 1990 (they have two children), told Variety: “I’m queer, and I’ve always identified as queer. Making a queer movie that was fun, playful and didn’t take itself too seriously especially back when we wrote it in 2002 seemed like a really fun and interesting idea.”

The trailer looks like a lot of fun, with the energy of “Raising Arizona” and other off beat Coen comedies. It’s going to be a hot ticket. Ethan also tells Variety that there’s a lot of sex in it, a first for a Coen movie.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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