Honey Don't

Ethan Coen's Honey Don't is an odd film, for a variety of reasons. Centered around a private detective who talks like a 50s dick while working out of a 70s office, while driving a vintage comfortable and discussing COVID and cellphones, Margaret Qualley stars as Honey O'Donahue who never actually investigates a single case on-screen that she was hired for throughout the entire film. That doesn't stop her from being a delight, though. By far the best thing about the film, Qualley's throwback pulpish detective provides a fun flick that sadly disappoints in a myriad of other ways.

If I had seen Honey Don't 20 years ago I would have sworn someone forgot an entire reel. Abruptly ending with quite a bit of story left untold, despite all its style as sass the story, and its notably steamy scenes, the promising flick (in a sleazy B-movie kind of way), ultimately feels both rushed and half-assed at the same time. 

Even with problems to the script, Coen assembles a strong cast (and has fun introducing them through some stylistic opening credits). We get both Aubrey Plaza and Charlie Day as local cops (only one of which Honey has any romantic interest in), Lera Abova as a mysterious French femme fatale who is woefully underdeveloped, and a somewhat miscast Chris Evans as a sleazy preacher who does some drug dealing on the side.

Sticking with Honey, at first looking into a woman who died the day before she could hire her (plot that simply ends without her involvement) and later looking for her missing niece, she moves in and out of various locations with snappy dialogue and throwback fashion but I'm not sure she ever really detects anything over the course of the film (other than a cheating husband). While its a fun ride, Honey Don't feels incomplete with an abrupt end that doesn't leave us wanting more so much as questioning what was the point?

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• Title: Honey Don't
• IMDb: link