Honey, Don’t
Honey O'Donahue (Margaret Qualley) is a hard-bitten and tough private eye working a murder case. She is investigating a mysterious and deadly car accident but there is something amiss and it involves Reverend Drew (Chris Evans), the head of the Four-Way Temple, in "Honey Don't."
Robin's Review: C
If you have been eagerly anticipating director Ethan Coen's second outing as solo director (without brother Joel) – the first being the not highly regarded "Drive-Away Dolls (2024)" – don't. While Margaret Qualley puts a good spin on an old-fashioned type of private eye character – I kept thinking a sexy Sam Spade – the movie that she stars in is a confused and often incoherent pastiche of unrelated (or very loosely related) incidents and people.
The hard-boiled PI story that centers on Honey is a real throwback to the old private dick movies of the 1930s and 40s, something I like. But, when it gets away from Honey, we get thrust forward to mid 2020s and a completely different story comes out.
The Reverend Drew is an unseemly character and the eventual subject of Honey's investigation. Chris Evans appears to have fun chewing scenery and being despicable but not enough to save the movie that is packed with unrelated story lines – Honey's estranged dad appears a couple of times and her niece, Corinne (Talia Rider), goes missing. None of this has anything to do with the so-called "story" (by Coen and Tricia Cooke), which is a confused mess.
At 89 minutes runtime, the filmmakers should have either made a short film focused on Honey, or spend the time to actually write a story fitting the lead character. Here, the concentration is on Honey's sexuality, her having to constantly explain to a horn dog cop (Charlie Day) that she is gay, and less on the crimes being investigated.
I have been a big fan of the Coen brothers and their films – well, not "The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)" – but it seems when they go their separate ways the parts are less than the whole. Take, for example, Joel Coen's foray into Shakespeare with "The Tragedy of Macbeth," starring Denzel Washington - that film prompted me to say that only the English should play in the Bard's work.
Films like "Honey Don't" make me long for the days when the Coen brothers made such great movies as "Fargo (1996)" and "The Big Lebowski (1998)." I just hope that Joel and Ethan kiss and make up and put some good movies up on the screen again.
Focus Features releases "Honey, Don't" in theaters on 8/22/25.
