‘Drive-Away Dolls’ is an original comedy, crime film directed by Ethan Coen of the famous, award-winning ‘Coen Brothers’. This marks the first movie with Ethan as the sole director, who co-wrote the story with his wife, Tricia Cooke. It stars Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan with cameos by various celebrities and is now showing in cinemas worldwide.

Marian is a mild-mannered office drone with a shy and uptight personality who prefers girls, but isn’t too open about it, which makes it challenging for her to find someone. Her friend, Jamie, on the other hand, is unapologetically lesbian and speaks her mind loud and proud with no filter. After Jamie has a messy breakup which wasn’t a big deal for her anyway, she and Marian go on a spontaneous road trip together to Tallahassee, Florida, for a fresh start. Their journey is full of laughs and good times, at least for Jamie, but things become awry when they find themselves inadvertently mixed up in a criminal operation.

Margaret Qualley stars as Jamie and Australian-born Geraldine Viswanathan stars as Marian. The two have excellent chemistry together on screen, whose personalities couldn’t be more different from each other, which shows in their mannerisms and the way they dress. Throughout the film, Jamie is always trying to help Marian loosen up and come out of her shell by dragging her to lesbian bars, hook her up with girls and participate in make-out sessions with randoms, but Marian would much rather just read her book and find a partner at her own pace and the traditional way.

This creates a lot of hilarious moments, especially with Jamie’s unfiltered way of speaking full of sexual innuendos, while Marian can only listen uncomfortably. Even with the two not being on the same page with everything and sometimes arguing, they also have some heartfelt moments together and show plenty of character development.

The small group of criminals trying to track them down consists of Colman Domingo simply known as Chief, Joey Slotnick as Arliss and C. J. Wilson as Flint. Chief leads the group and is the most composed, trying to keep it cool, especially with how idiotic and uncooperative the other two can be.

Arliss and Flint go on the road in search of Jamie and Marian, and often come into conflict with each other. When the two question other characters they meet about the girls ’whereabouts, Arliss is the more polite one able to maintain a friendly and casual conversation, while Flint is clumsy, has very little patience and can potentially blow their cover. The three of them also have fantastic chemistry together, especially Arliss and Flint as a very dysfunctional duo.

The various celebrity cameos include Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal, Bill Camp and Miley Cyrus. They each play much smaller but still important roles, with their own hilarious and memorable moments.

The story is set during the 90s and the cinematography and set pieces do an excellent job creating the feel of that era from the fashion, music, cars, and more. Even with Ethan directing the movie without his brother Joel, it still has that signature Coen Brothers filming style as seen with many of their past films. Ethan and his wife Tricia Cooke actually wrote the story back in the early 2000s and it’s great to see it finally been adapted to the big screen.

It’s very rare that we see a comedy film led by two lesbian characters and Drive-Away Dolls is one of the best examples. It shows how diverse lesbians are, presents them in a positive light and is comfortable in their own skin just like the main characters, well at least Jamie. Most LGBTQ+ films have the same sad and depressing tone, so it’s a really nice change to see one that actually has a sense of humour, is a very uplifting experience, and never has a dull moment.

Even if part of the ending feels a little anticlimactic and could do with a bit more impact, it doesn’t take away anything the film does right. Margaret Qualley shines the brightest as Jamie with her extroverted personality and hilarious tirades, which plays off well with Geraldine Viswanathan’s Marian being blunt, awkward and introverted. Together they make the perfect combination, they are the stars of the show and rightfully so, not even being outshined by the A-list celebrities that appear.

Drive-Away Dolls is a wild ride from start to finish, both on the road and in the bedrooms. Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan’s on-screen chemistry is a joy to watch, full of laughs and some meaningful heartfelt moments. The rest of the cast also adds plenty of memorable and comedic moments to the film, without taking the spotlight away from the two main characters. With the MA rating in Australia and R rating in other countries, the trailers can only show so much, that it has to be seen to be believed. Drive-Away Dolls is an LGBT film done right and will no doubt be one of the funniest movies of the year.

Written by: Sammy Hanson