A dark comedy about Honey O’Donahue, a small-town private investigator, who delves into a series of strange deaths tied to a mysterious church.
Ethan Coen’s campy, queer, neo-noir “Honey Don’t!” opens with the aftermath of a car accident. A woman, Cher (Lera Abova), calmly enters the scene, removes a signet ring from the dead driver’s finger, shoves it in her pocket, and walks away. Coen then cuts to this woman skinny dipping (featuring full frontal nudity), climbing out of the water, and pulling her clothes on before driving away. The film then cuts to the opening credits. This sequence highlights what you can expect from Coen’s latest film — a lot of style and some shocks, but not a lot of substance. What follows is a meandering investigation that introduces a host of eccentric individuals while never delivering a solid punch.
Margaret Qualley stars as Honey O’Donahue, a no-nonsense private investigator who was scheduled to meet with the crash victim, Mia (Kara Peterson), about a potential case. Called to the scene of the accident by bumbling police detective Marty (Charlie Day), Honey begins to probe into Mia’s death. Her search leads to the church of Reverend Drew Devlin (Chris Evans), a charismatic but depraved figure whose shady dealings embroil Honey in a web of sex, violence, and corruption. Added to the mix of offbeat characters are Honey’s police officer lover, MG (Aubrey Plaza), her niece, Corinne (Talia Ryder), and a host of Drew’s screwy, imbecilic associates.
Despite a solid set-up, Coen’s film lacks a cohesive narrative flow. Instead, it is a barrage of strung-together moments that focus more on the film’s B-movie aesthetic than on crafting a coherent story. Coen’s more interested in trying to shock the audience with graphic sexuality, sight and sound gags (some rather adolescent), and violence — none of which comes together to tell a clear, cohesive story.
Exacerbating things are the performances, further preventing the film from fully gelling together. Qualley’s Honey comes across more like a caricature, focused on quips and attitude. Evans chews the scenery, but his performance is a little too over the top and cartoonish. Plaza is pretty much wasted; her character isn’t given much to do. Even side characters go too hard in their roles, distracting from, rather than fleshing out, the movie.
While there are some good cinematographic set-ups, “Honey Don’t!” is, altogether, all flash. When it finally reaches its conclusion, it’s anticlimactic — a confusing reveal and an unsatisfying epilogue, leaving things unresolved and unclear. At 89 minutes, it’s a breezy, campy ride, but brevity doesn’t make up for shallowness. If you’re more into vibes over story, this is for you. Those looking for a compelling whodunit, keep looking.
In Theaters Friday, August 22nd
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That movie stunk , didn’t like it at all made no sense, bad ending also ,it was wast of my time .