Honey Don't!

Hate to say it but this one was a total letdown. The cast is stacked and the vibes could have been amazing, but the story just went in too many directions instead of owning one lane. Chris evans as a slimeball pastor had me cracking up, charlie day kept giving me sunny conspiracy board flashbacks (probably just me lol), and honestly both aubrey plaza and margaret qualley were made for their hot, classy, sultry detective/cop roles. They completely delivered - it was the storyline, not the characters, that didn't add up. And look, while the coen brothers' breakup has blessed us with some spectacular sapphic scenes (hi, aubrey and margaret being absurdly hot together), it's also proof that his wife's touch might bring the spice but the boys really do their best work as a band of brothers. The whole thing ended up feeling messy and dragged way too long. BUT i'd still happily pay again just to rewatch that aubrey x margaret market scene because wow... chef's kiss, dangerously hot.

No matter how many elements a filmmaker may get right in creating a movie, none of them means anything if they're not set within a coherent cinematic context, either thematically or in terms of the picture's central narrative. And, regrettably, that's the problem that plagues the second solo narrative feature outing from writer-director Ethan Coen. This pulpy comedy-drama-crime thriller, which follows the exploits of flamboyant, perpetually "thirsty" small town private detective Honey O'Donahue (Margaret Qualley) in her investigation of a series of unsolved murders apparently tied to mysterious church, successfully incorporates an array of truly captivating qualities - colorful character development, fine performances (particularly by Qualley and in the supporting portrayals of Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans and Charlie Day), a well-crafted production design and a collection of knock-it-out-of-the-park one-liners. In fact, about the only thing that's missing here is a solid, comprehensible story. The picture's disjointed jumble of plot threads - many of them underdeveloped and/or extraneous - meanders along for roughly 90 minutes without ever really going anywhere or saying anything relevant or meaningful. To be sure, "Honey Don't!" has its share of genuinely enjoyable moments, but a handful of modestly memorable instances does not a movie make. And that's unfortunate, given that it seems the picture has many of the ingredients for what could have potentially been an outlandishly funny, wickedly engaging tale. Instead, viewers are left with a plot that aimlessly roams from tangent to tangent and never seems to coalesce into something substantial or integrated, no matter how visually appealing it might be or how effective it is in tickling one's funny bone. And, when the film comes up lacking in this regard, it often falls back on titillating sequences driven by graphic sexuality or edgy violence to shore up its obvious deficiencies, a rather cheap and cheesy way to try and revive sagging audience interest. In that sense, then, this production reminds me very much of the films of such directors as Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson, whose releases, in my view, are often long on style and woefully short on substance. I find all of this rather disappointing, especially in light of Coen's filmography over the years, particularly his many successful productions with his brother Joel. But perhaps that's the key ingredient that's missing here - the collaboration of the two siblings working together to produce truly outstanding works of cinema (and, thankfully, a reunion of the two is said to be in development). Whatever the case, though, it appears the filmmaker's sophomore attempt at working on his own has not yet yielded cinema of the caliber that he's capable of. Let's hope that changes with his next project.

It's a send-up of a 1940s detective noir movie set in 2024 in and around Bakersfield, California. It follows Honey O'Donahue (Margaret Qualley), a lesbian private eye who comes upon a suspicious auto accident, which turns out to be the surface of a complex drug operation and a surprising serial killer. Honey's world includes her sister, Heidi (Kristen Connolly), her niece, Corrine (Talia Ryder), police detective Metakawich (Charlie Day), police officer MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza), and Rev. Drew (Chris Evans), leader of the Four-Way Temple.

"Honey Don't" includes many Ethan Coen earmarks--all the characters are eccentric, the setting is deliberately confusing with 1940s imagery mixed with 2024 imagery, and the plot jerks the viewer around multiple times. Thus, it's a fun watch for Coen fans, but it feels like the film wasn't fully baked. There are way too many loose ends, and it doesn't feel like a coherent whole at the end. Margaret Qualley is fine for her role; I wish it could have been more complete. Chris Evans provides the other memorable character.

Honey Don't (2025) is a neo-noir dark comedy detective movie written and directed by Ethan Coen of the Coen Brothers, it is the second entry in the lesbian B-movie trilogy and it tells the story of a private investigator searching for the killer of several murders that could be tied to a religious church. This was a movie I was excited for since I'm a massive fan of the Coen Brothers, but it is sad for me to say this movie was just okay.

Positives for Honey Don't (2025): The movie does have an interesting premise of this young private investigator searching for the killer while also having to deal with a detective who refuses to believe that she is a lesbian. Margaret Qualley does a great job as Honey O'Donahue and she is one of the reason to watch this movie. I did enjoy the the supporting cast with Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Charlie Day, Kristen Connolly, Billy Eichner, Gabby Beans and Talia Ryder. The main murder mystery is interesting at first with its ties to this church headed by Chris Evans. You still get that Coen western vibe that Ethan and his brother Joel have done very well together. And finally, there are some good action sequences that are decently bloody and I liked it.

Negatives for Honey Don't (2025): This movie barely has a story to tell to its audience. The movie feels like a series of events happening in order, but none of it lands right. The movie is too short to tell a story and it felt like Ethan Coen just wanted to make a lesbian movie without the story. And finally, Charlie Day got on my nerves as he refuses to accept that Margaret Qualley is a lesbian and I wanted to knock him out.

Overall, Honey Don't is a serviceable enough detective movie with a great cast, but it falls short of what Ethan Coen is known for doing when he is at his best.

Margaret Qualley, who was great in Substance, acts like a private detective from a 50's movie, which was out of place with almost everyone else.

Aubrey Plaza was great in her role, seemed very realistic amongst the other actors.

Chris Evans's character was over acted, which might have been the intent of the director, given other weird choices.

Ethan Coen, is a great director, but really couldn't pull this movie together as it seemed lost as to style or intent. I think he must have decided to throw in the several meaningless sex scenes that didn't advance the plot, to appeal to teenage boys.

All the rest of the actors were way over the top and unrealistic to the point of being a parody almost to Naked Gun level. Thus, there were a few laughs to be had.

Didn't hate it, but will never watch it again and regret paying to see it.