Honey Don't!: Margaret Qualley is a Delight, But the Film is Completely Forgettable … Whatever It Is
By Liz Braun
Rating: B
The camera loves Margaret Qualley. She is the best thing about Honey Don’t!, a well-intentioned noir-inflected comedy about murder and mayhem.
It’s a bit of a shaggy dog story. It’s fun to look at. The cast is good. It’s instantly forgettable.
Qualley stars as Honey O’Donahue, a private investigator in the grubby little city of Bakersfield. There’s a complicated story involving a dead woman in a car crash, a pervy church leader, a French assassin, a couple more dead people and also Honey’s sister, her rebellious niece, her quirky assistant and her cop lover.
Margaret Qualley is Private investigator Honey O’Donahue in Honey Don’t!
Qualley is deadpan and unflappable in her role as a world-weary P.I. trying to untangle everything. But look here, doll — the story just doesn’t add up.
Go figure, considering that what’s on offer is a film directed by Ethan Coen with a cast that includes Chris Evans as the egomaniacal evangel busy seducing his flock, Aubrey Plaza as Qualley’s cop lover, Charlie Day as a detective who won’t accept that Honey is a lesbian, Talia Ryder as Honey’s rebellious niece and Gabby Beans as her quirky assistant. Hey, kids! let’s put on a show …
Honey Don’t! begins with the lousy landscape of Bakersfield and goes dark fast with the aftermath of a car crash and someone stealing a ring from the cold, dead hand of the woman killed in that crash.
Suspicion is ladled onto Reverend Drew (Evans), a cult-leader-type preacher hilariously bad at preaching and heavily into sex and drugs. The woman killed in the car crash was a follower of Rev. Drew. Prior to dying, the woman had contacted Honey, saying she feared for her life and wanted to hire a private investigator.
In addition to trying to figure out who the dead woman feared, Honey is trying to help her sister (Kristen Connolly), who has a lot of unruly children, and whose niece Corinne (Ryder), has a battering boyfriend.
Honey is also dealing with a new squeeze who is a cop (Plaza), her own terrible father (Kale Browne) and her spunky assistant, Spider (Beans), so she’s busy.
Meanwhile, various secondary characters get shot or run over or stabbed to death. Corrine runs away, the girl cop proves untrustworthy and Honey suspects Rev Drew of terrible misdeeds. Also, she encounters a parrot.
Quips are traded, funny observations are dryly delivered, the camera lingers on Qualley’s face (in a good way) and some excellent tension is created around scenes of crime and violence. This does not mean you will entirely understand what’s going on, however.
This is the second (after Drive Away Dolls) in a planned trilogy of lesbian noir-ish movies from Coen and his wife and co-writer, Tricia Cooke, who have stated their intent with this trilogy to make movies for an overlooked market.
In related news, the overlooked market of movie-goers keen on better storytelling remains hopeful.
Honey Don’t!: Directed by Ethan Coen, written by Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke, starring Margaret Qualley, Chris Evans, Aubrey Plaza, Charlie Day. In theatres August 22.