PLOT: A darkish comedy about Honey O’Donahue, a small-town personal investigator, who delves right into a collection of unusual deaths tied to a mysterious church.
REVIEW: If there’s any partnership ending that has upset the movie world, it’s the Coen Brothers now not working collectively. They appeared to offer the right mix of seriousness and humor in a steadiness that nobody else may obtain. And it’s by no means been extra evident that they actually accomplished one another greater than with Ethan Coen’s second solo outing along with his spouse, Tricia Cooke. Honey Don’t! is a movie that’s extra centered on being quirky than really being impactful, and it actually doesn’t work.
Honey Don’t! follows Margaret Qualley’s Honey O’Donahue, a non-public investigator who’s attempting to take a deeper take a look at one in every of her purchasers’ deaths. It’s made all of the weirder when it’s clear {that a} native church had one thing to do with it. That weirdness solely will increase as soon as we’re proven all of the sexual shenanigans the church is as much as. The narrative is offered like a basic detective story, with numerous narratives interweaving to offer us the total image. However it by no means actually goes previous quirky characters and random moments of chaos.
Qualley is nice, however she feels shortchanged, regardless of getting probably the most screentime of anybody. Chris Evans steals the present because the womanizer Preacher of the 4 Manner Church. Each scene he’s in is a spotlight, because it’s one of many few instances that the story really feels clear and concise. However even that involves such an abrupt ending that it’s laborious to even muster up any kind of care concerning the fates. Aubrey Plaza feels a bit wasted, particularly since most of her characterization is that she’s a lesbian, and it doesn’t actually transfer previous that. It ends in some first rate chemistry with Qualley, however little else.
Charlie Day has some enjoyable scenes as a detective that may’t get it by way of his head that Honey doesn’t like males however, like every part else on this movie, it doesn’t actually transfer previous floor degree. Sadly, with this and Drive Away Dolls, it appears as if Ethan actually wants Joel as a way to make an amazing film as a substitute of only a quirky mess. “Hey, we’ve got lesbians!” might have been intriguing within the ’80s, but it surely’s simply part of life these days and must be handled as such.
I actually needed to love Honey Don’t!, however even at 89 minutes, I used to be simply ready for this to be over. From a random conclusion, to so many detours that it feels prefer it doesn’t even know what it needs to be, I simply discovered myself annoyed. This needed to be Burn After Studying, however its script isn’t sturdy sufficient to illicit any type of response. Neither are the characters, who principally simply spout supposedly witty dialogue. It fails to attach and ends in a really shallow expertise. Right here’s hoping the Coens can reunite as a result of the output has been extra disappointing than not once they’re aside.
HONEY DON’T! IS PLAYING THEATERS ON AUGUST 22ND, 2025.
