Photo © Focus Features
Drive-Away Dolls film still
Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan in ‘Drive-Away Dolls’
Drive-Away Dolls
(In Theaters Feb. 23)
Professing that he grew weary of the involved filmmaking process, Ethan Coen was taking a break when the Covid-19, pandemic hit. This left Ethan and his wife, Tricia Cooke, time to develop an idea he’d conceived in 2007. The pair co-wrote the screenplay and began laying the rest of the filmmaking groundwork. One of their heroines is somewhat hapless Jamie (Margaret Qualley), who seeks a distraction from her recent breakup with yet another girlfriend. Jamie persuades her uptight friend, Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), to accompany Jamie on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee. Trouble begins after a mix up at the car rental agency places them in the wrong car, its trunk containing property that belongs to a ruthless gang of thugs. Ethan Coen, directing his first feature film alone, choregraphs the R-rated, frequent violence as an extension of the comedy. However, a look at the trailer, puts this notion in doubt. Matt Damon is onboard as a U.S. Senator, with Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo and Pedro Pascal rounding out the cast. (Lisa Miller)
Ordinary Angels
(In Theaters Feb. 23rd)
This inspirational true story has morphed into a faith-based film. Hilary Swank appears as Sharon Stevens, a churchgoer who makes it her mission to save young Ashley (Skywalker Hughes) by securing for the child a liver transplant in 1994. Lacking funds for proper insurance coverage, the girl’s father (Alan Ritchson) is recently widowed and barely coping when Stevens comes along to help raise awareness, funds, and negotiate with administrators. Then a liver arrives during the height of a severe snowstorm that leaves roads virtually unnavigable. Stevens, who has championed Ashley’s case throughout the region, continues to perform minor miracles in an effort to get the girl to a distant hospital while the transplant organ remains viable. Hallmark-movie aspects seem obvious, but this PG-rated drama benefits from elevated scripting, acting and direction by Jon Gunn. (Lisa Miller)
Sisters
(IndiePix DVD/Digital)
Anastasija is 13 and lives in a Latvian orphanage with her younger sister Diana. The orphanage isn’t a Dickensian nightmare, but it’s crowded, there’s a waiting list, and the administrators are eager to make room by placing the girls with an American couple, the Johnsons, looking to adopt. Diana is willing but Anastasija is skeptical. Latvian director Linda Olte’s feature debut looks at the side of her country’s society the tourists never see. Anastasija’s mom has been in prison, her older sister isn’t a paragon of responsibility either and Anastasija is left to make the big decisions. In the opening scene, she releases barking dogs from a kennel and scrambles over a cyclone fence to outrun angry pursuers. She doesn’t like cages. Anastasija is introduced to the Johnsons on Facetime, the family smiling embodiment of the upper-middle class. But Anastasija wonders whether repairing her frayed biological family is the better choice? (David Luhrssen)
