Review: ‘Honey Don’t!’

The more I think about Ethan Coen’s screwball neo-noir Honey Don’t!, the more I appreciate it. Certainly, it’s a step in the right direction compared to the woefully unfunny Drive-Away Dolls, and is a much better representation of what Coen’s quirky sense of humor can be when given life by actress Margaret Qualley, who is quickly becoming his muse. It’s not a great film, but I can appreciate Coen and co-writer Tricia Cooke’s spin on hard-boiled detective yarns, with Qualley as the Philip Marlowe-esque antihero on the weirdest case of any gumshoe’s career.

Of course, in a different era, Qualley’s character Honey O’Donaghue would be something else entirely. She would be a dangerous femme fatale, or the secretary working behind a desk. Certainly, she wouldn’t walk around like the head badass in charge the way Honey does. A private dick in Bakersfield, California, Honey drives around in a classic Chevy SS, stunning in turquoise, and endures the constant flirtations of a dufus cop (Charlie Day) who never believes when she responds “I like girls!”. And boy, does she. Honey gets around, indulging herself sexually with the kind of flippant attitude that men do in those 1950s noir thrillers.

My appreciation for Honey Don’t! is that Coen and Cooke have designed it as the middle chapter of a loose trilogy of films, all featuring Qualley as an unashamed member of the LGBTQ community challenging some form of societal authority. In this case, she’s taking on the corrupt Four Way Temple, a cultish church run by the shady Reverend Drew, played by a deliberately oily Chris Evans. When we first meet him, the holy man is pretty deep into nailing one of his parishioners. He’s got his hands in a bunch of criminal exploits, too, such as drugs and murder. But he’s got bosses, and they aren’t happy at the attention brought by the death of one of his flock. Honey showed up at the “accident” scene, not to investigate but because the woman was going to be a client before she died. Drew’s bosses have sent a sexy French assassin to oversee the operation, and she gets around the dilapidated little town in her red and white moped.

Honey Don’t! has a tone that is all over the place, and sometimes you can appreciate the slippery nature of the plot. But more often than not it’s a distraction, with Coen unsure how seriously to take his own material. The central mystery isn’t really a motivation at all. The film sort of shambles along as various threads loosely connect. More time is spent on Honey’s troubling family life. She has a sister (Kristen Connolly) in a tiny house with about a thousand kids and one on the way, while her niece Corinne (Talia Ryder) is a rebellious teen dating an abusive dickhead. Men don’t come across well in these movies at all, with all of them either weak or violent towards women. Most toxic men are a combination of the two, and this film has no problem making fun of them. In one hilariously on-target moment, Honey kicks Corinne’s gun-sporting boyfriend’s ass then rips off his MAGA bumper sticker and replaces it with a “I Have a Vagina and I Vote” one.

Honey, who like Qualley’s character in Drive-Away Dolls can’t find a woman to stay loyal to, enters a relationship with MG (Aubrey Plaza), a cop working in the evidence room. Like Honey, MG has a bit of an edge to her, but there’s something darker lurking underneath. Their brief but intense fling brings a bit of grit to the otherwise loopy film, however it’s also one of those many things that keep the story from going anywhere.

It’s maddening how lackadaisical things play out because everyone is on the top of their game. We’re watching Qualley emerge as one of our finest actresses. It’s not easy to nail the right vibe for a Coen brothers movie, but those who can turn out to be really great at just about everything, ala Frances McDormand. Qualley shows she’s capable of being weird, silly, sensual, but also poignant such as during an encounter between Honey and an estranged family member returned from out of nowhere. It’s also nice to see Evans, in a complete 180 from his Avenger days, having so much fun playing a character who is anything but a hero.

I wasn’t huge on Joel Coen’s awards-bait The Tragedy of Macbeth, the film that seemed to mark him as the sibling to keep a closer watch on. But Ethan has been the busiest by far, with Honey Don’t! marking his third solo project since the split. It also establishes a clear, unique, creative persona, one that isn’t afraid to play around with genre, and be a bit topical without getting heavy. Assuming Qualley is coming back for the next film, my gut tells me that Coen will get it right with the third, but Honey Don’t! is a misfire that he gets credit for taking a shot at.

Focus Features releases Honey Don’t in theaters on August 22nd.