Ethan Coen ought to simply direct a TV anthology. If there’s something that Honey Don’t and his prior solo effort Drive-Away Dolls elucidate, Coen’s strengths lie in humorous little scenes and moments, not in a cohesive narrative movie. Till he embraces the medium that fits his wishes, Coen’s work will proceed to endure in consequence.
The Coen Brothers made their final movie collectively again in 2018, and since then every of them has solely made solo movies. The relative high quality of every has led many to calling Joel the extra gifted of the pair. Whereas we are able to’t go as far as that based mostly on a small pattern dimension, it appears not less than that Joel is extra expert at crafting sturdy, film-length tales.
Honey Don’t is difficult to name a nasty film. Its glossy opening credit are enjoyable, and the script has echoes of the distinctive Coen humor. Various scenes are hilarious within the particular approach the dialogue dances alongside the peculiarities of human interplay and language. For the reason that movie is an homage to hard-boiled detective tales, the script’s stylized nature appears particularly on-point.
But if Ethan was the humorist of the pair, he’s very a lot not the structured one. Honey Don’t is a meandering movie, similar to his first solo effort, extra a group of humorous scenes than a cohesive story. Actually there’s considerably of a plot with Margaret Qualley enjoying a non-public detective employed to look into the disappearance of some women. The thriller appears linked to a nondenominational church run by a charismatic philanderer of a pastor (Chris Evans). Qualley’s detective additionally begins a romance with Aubrey Plaza‘s cop character, who’s accountable for proof.
However there’s a relatively lack of narrative momentum, and the obtuse nature of the storytelling frustrates greater than delights. It virtually looks like Ethan is making an attempt to recapture among the deliberately convoluted story decisions of The Large Lebowski with none of the talent or method that made that movie work so properly. Whereas the performances of Evans and Charlie Day pop, Honey Don’t lurches into its third act revelations in a way that’s wholly unsatisfying.
Honey Don’t is vibrant and colourful and has some notable scenes and visuals. However it looks as if Ethan Coen will get random spurts of concepts, movies them, after which edits half-heartedly to get to a completed product. It makes one need his brother’s regular hand concerned.
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