Popnography
CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Meet the Lane twins, Gary and Larry, whose driving ambition is to get their script, fashioned with a lead role for Dolly Parton, into the acrylic-nailed hands of the diva herself. So they decide to buy an RV which they christen "Jolene" (wouldn't you?) and drive across the country, as the title suggests, to get their opus to Dolly at her theme park.
So what's wrong with this picture? Well, for starters, the boys are seen in the opening scenes making chummy with some pretty big Hollywood players (Milk Oscar Winner Dustin Lance Black and Emmy Winner Leslie Jordan among them). Mightn't those contacts have been a better route to Dolly, rather than, say, throwing the script at her while she's on stage? And if they were really on a tight budget, as they claim throughout, wouldn't they have flown to Tennessee instead of buying an RV? They would, unless, of course, what they REALLY wanted to do was star in their own road movie.
But despite the film's obvious contrivances, once the boys hit the road, director John Lavin manages to get beneath the surface and find the real story, if not the intended one; The Lanes are 36 years old and almost embarrassingly concerned with what their mother thinks of them. These are southern boys who grew up with "traditional values" and while they are out to mother, she simply doesn't want to know about their homosexuality. It becomes clear pretty quickly that these men, in seeking fame, in seeking careers, in seeking Dolly, are seeking the acceptance they have been denied since childhood and it's heartbreaking. Sadder still is that they don't seem to see it. But Lavin does, and his film slyly manages to unearth the poignant heart under the trappings of a fabricated "documentary." Parton apparently saw that heart, too; 15 of her songs comprise the film's soundtrack, compliments of the lady herself.
From Hollywood to Dollywood screens at Outfest on Saturday, July 16.
For a full list of films playing at Outfest, click here. To read our Outfest 2011 roundtable with directors, writers, and actors featured in the festival, click here.
-- EDDIE SHAPIRO
Previously > Outfest 2011 First Look: Private Romeo
Watch Now: Pride Today
Latest Stories
A trans woman, forced to compete against men, swims topless in protest
June 17 2025 2:33 PM
Benito Skinner reveals possible 'Overcompensating' season 2 storylines
June 17 2025 1:24 PM
Why Logo Legend Jinkx Monsoon loves playing villains as a trans woman
June 17 2025 12:02 PM
'​Project Runway' star shot and killed at No Kings protest​
June 17 2025 10:35 AM
'Drag Race All Stars 10' was Ginger Minj's shot to 'take my life back'
June 17 2025 9:05 AM
Every 'Noah's Arc' episode is now available to stream
June 16 2025 5:49 PM
Shygirl clarifies her sexuality in a new video: 'I'm definitely queer'
June 16 2025 4:38 PM
'Tight Lotus'? Patrick Schwarzenegger reacts to 'White Lotus' parody
June 16 2025 4:26 PM
Drag, demure, and drama: 10 most followed LGBTQ+ beauty influencers
June 16 2025 4:03 PM
'Pitch Perfect's Anna Camp felt 'welcomed & supported' since coming out
June 16 2025 2:18 PM