Directed by: Ethan Coen
Written by: Tricia Cooke and Ethan Coen
Starring: Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, Lera Abova, Charlie Day

I haven’t seen Drive-Away Dolls, Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s first installment in the “lesbian B-movie trilogy. Could it have affected my thoughts on Honey Don’t? Probably, but only as a point of reference. So, I can’t possibly speak to that first film, but what I can say is that Honey Don’t stands quite alright on its own, regardless of whether it’s better or not than its predecessor.

Set in the sunny wasteland of Bakersfield, CA, Honey O’Donahue (Qualley) is a queer private detective investigating the death of a local parishioner who had recently called on her services. During her inquiry, and without much help from police detective Marty (Day), she interviews the deceased’s acquaintances, including the flamboyant Rev. Drew Devlin (Evans), who, as Honey suspects, might be running a little bit more than a local church business or cult. Also in the mix is Officer MG Falcone (Plaza), Honey’s quirky love interest, and a mysterious French woman (Abova) in a Vespa. Where does it all lead to? Somewhere unexpected, I imagine.

Honey Don’t clocks in at a very concise 89 minutes, but Coen and Cooke are able to fill it with a myriad of ideas and brevity that lifts it above the usual grindhouse fare. Qualley does a great Sam Spade that Bogart would approve, delivering her lines with a wise and deadpan tone. It’s so effective that she is unfazed even when the clueless Marty, aware she is lesbian, keeps hitting on her repeatedly; the offending advances bounce off of her with ease. She is smart, sexy, impeccably dressed, and a bit of a Luddite (she doesn’t have a phone or computer and relies on her tried-and-true Rolodex). A brief reminder of a time when people talked directly to other people to get information instead of looking at a screen.

All good and well, but it wouldn’t be a proper Coen brothers movie without some quirky and appealing wit, and this film is no exception. With its wacky and sometimes over-the-top cast of characters, it is a mish-mash of archetypes from some of the Coens’ best work (Raising Arizona, No Country for Old Men, to name a few). On the other hand, this mix might stray and lose focus. However, Coen and Cooke show the beauty of their collaboration by producing a tight and well-paced flick with hardly any fillers.

The cast is a nice ensemble of characters and eye candy. Qualley and Plaza have a nice and steamy chemistry. Evans is fine as a sleazy church leader if not overzealous at times. Their stiff dialogue that permeates throughout is a homage to Raymond Chandler’s short, simple, and easy-to-understand language.

Smart, sexy, light, and quirky, Honey Don’t could have been just another clever, gimmicky, cocaine-infused Tarantino exercise. But Cooke and Coen instead rein things in with a smallish film that’s full of style, strange humor, and a tinge of violence. With all of that and its “lesbian” label, Honey Don’t has all the makings of a future cult classic.

So have you seen HONEY DON’T? Well, what do you think?

…