There’s a swagger to Margaret Qualley in “Honey Don’t” that suggests she’s a better actress than most producers are willing to admit.
Sure, director Ethan Coen gives her an intriguing platform, but she offers qualities even he never considered.
A companion piece of sorts to “Drive-Away Dolls” (last year’s Coen/Qualley collaboration), “Honey” finds Qualley as a private investigator snooping into several murders. She doesn’t necessarily solve the crimes, but she does get them on record.
Possessing an old-school swagger, Qualley’s Honey O’Donoghue checks on an automobile accident that could have ties to a strip mall church led by Chris Evans. He’s into a different kind of godliness and isn’t afraid to get at the demons he thinks are lurking in parishioners. Honey has an idea what this means but before she can move in on him, there are murders galore that require some kind of insight. With the help of a cop (Aubrey Plaza), she’s able to get access to information that could tie things up.
At home, life is just as chaotic. Honey’s sister is a mess, her niece has an abusive boyfriend, and a man lurking in the shadows could be a relative. Toss in Charlie Day as a detective who wants to get into Honey’s Rolodex and it’s clear “Honey Don’t” is keen on atmosphere, not resolution.
Qualley, in fact, looks like someone from another era. She wears high heels while climbing around crime scenes; she tosses off one-liners like Cary Grant was in the next room. But this is a more nebulous contemporary time where a bagful of quarters works better than a cellphone. As Honey checks out more leads, she and the cop grow closer, continuing the lesbian theme started in “Dolls.” There’s a third film in the trilogy and, no doubt, it will figure in there, too.
What that means here is plenty of nudity. Numerous bedroom scenes up the count and make Ethan the Coen brother who isn’t afraid to shock and awe. He also seems like the one with the sense of humor and a willingness to “go there,” no matter where “there” is.
Co-written with his wife, Tricia Cooke, “Honey Don’t” has a “Raising Arizona” tone that suggests it might have been as entertaining as “Fargo” if it had input — or restraint — from brother Joel.
Evans gets to stretch in this hardly Marvel role and he, too, should have been given more to do. Getting him outside the church might have helped tie up those loose ends. (We know who’s responsible for what deaths. But, it appears, those in the film haven’t connected the dots.)
That’s what makes “Honey Don’t” frustrating. There’s a neat little noir drama lurking in a collection of one-liners, but it never gets a full examination. It’s a television series crammed in the backseat of a 90-minute movie.
Qualley — who gained big attention with “The Substance” — demonstrates she has the goods to challenge Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence or Mikey Madison for big-budget roles. She’s fine trolling in films like “Honey Don’t,” but deserves more. That third film could be the ticket — or it could be another way to play on her looks and score an R rating.
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