Drive-Away Dolls

By Joanna Langfield

You’ll want to buckle up for this almost miraculously delicious comic caper.

Ethan Coen, minus his brother but plus his wife and creative partner Tricia Cooke, puts his signature giddy spin on this story of two young women who find themselves on the run, in the possession of something that some bad guys want desperately enough to follow their loopy road trip to Tallahassee. Based on some tried and true movie stories (innocents being tracked, young love, inept fall guys), some of this feels a bit familiar, as if it is also drawn from some Looney Tunes classics. But this isn’t necessarily your mother’s girls on the run romp. Because these dolls are forthright and true. And so is the movie about them.

Yes, the characters played by Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan are lesbians.

Currently single, they are looking to move on, to find themselves and new love in a new place. As one does when one is starting over, they look for new opportunities. Which, in this case, gets them in hot water. And sometimes, in that water, they are having sex. Actually, there’s quite a bit of sex in this movie. If you have a problem with that, they and this movie don’t care. Because everybody here is much too busy getting on with it. For themselves.

A wonderfully game cast nails the fun. Look for Pedro Pascal, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Matt Damon and my two faves, the wonderfully goony Goons, Joey Slotnick and C.J. Wilson. Margaret Qualley’s wild child grew on me, but Geraline Viswanathan had me from the start. If this modest but bold treat accomplishes anything, I sure hope it makes Viswanathan the star she deserves to be. Oh, and that it makes the rest of us have a really fun time.