The latest film by Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke, “Honey Don’t!,” doesn’t have a clear message.
The film follows a lone-wolf private detective (Margaret Qualley), a corrupt preacher (Chris Evans) and a disillusioned cop (Aubrey Plaza). The marketing of this film leaned heavily on these characters, intertwined in a mystery involving a suspicious traffic death.
It is a cool setup and came with a great trailer to boot, though for a majority of the movie, this mystery takes a back seat in favor of a light examination of these fairly shallow characters.
Honey O’Donahue (Qualley) has a sharp eye and always appears to be one step ahead of the police, though she is continually pulled into other storylines that go nowhere.
Rev. Drew Devlin (Evans) is a smooth-talking church leader with a loyal following, but he often uses his power within the church for sex.
MG Falcone (Plaza) is a low-level cop who is probably looking for something more, but the film does not focus enough on her for a viewer to know for sure.
The movie is pretty up-front in its indifference to the audience. Whenever there is an ounce of tension in the air, it is quickly sucked away. There are subtle breadcrumbs left that viewers can imagine leading to something interesting, but that payoff never comes.
At 89 minutes, “Honey Don’t!” is a short movie, which is not unwelcome. However, it also feels like the movie does not stay around long enough to get going. The film doesn’t show its hand until the final line, but when it does, it gives a handful of nothing.
The music, the actors and the world are all begging to be explored. Audiences beg to know more about Honey, the Reverend, MG and the French woman. What is going on behind all of this?
Before anything could be explained, the movie ended and the credits rolled. All audiences are left with are random events. Dead bodies, lonely people and a continuing cycle of violence.
There are scenes in this movie that do make sense. Ones in which a vague, contextual gunshot in the background has the same effect as a close-up of a character’s dramatic end.
Still, “Honey Don’t!” did not make sense. The film was too short, went off on too many tangents and never found its footing. It is an aesthetically well-made film that leaves much up to the audience’s imagination with little to show for itself.
Some may love this style, and it can make for some satisfying endings. Here, there isn’t enough source material to prod at your mind past the end credits.
For those looking for something similar with a bit more excitement, check out “The Silence of the Lambs.” It is a masterwork in tension and one that will be remembered far longer than “Honey Don’t!”
For other works by Coen, “No Country for Old Men” has some similar tropes to “Honey Don’t!” but is executed with far more grace. It’s based on a great novel by Cormac McCarthy.
For those looking for something a bit more modern, go check out “Weapons.” It was a ton of fun in theaters with some really exciting non-linear storytelling and great performances from the cast.
2/5
