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![](\"https:\/\/cdn.craft.cloud\/26ed9c78-feb7-4ee6-8ddf-262fd7bafb2d\/assets\/tco\/images\/Margaret-Qualley-in-Honey-Dont-2025.jpg\")
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Ethan Coen has earned the right to do whatever the hell he wants when it comes to making art. Whether that translates to whatever the hell <\/span>we<\/span><\/i>, the audience, want is another matter entirely, as this new one, co-created with partner and long-time editor Tricia Cooke, is the blithely inconsequential middle chapter of a\u00a0proposed trilogy that was kicked off in 2024<\/span> with the glibly amusing lesbian exploitation caper, <\/span>Drive-Away Dolls<\/span><\/i><\/a> (n\u00e9e Drive-Away Dykes).<\/span><\/p>\n Honey Don\u2019t!<\/i> reteams with\u00a0<\/span>Dolls<\/i> star Margaret Qualley who stars as power-suited private shamus Honey O\u2019Donahue. She\u2019s investigating the strange death of a\u00a0female parishioner from a\u00a0local superchurch run by Chris Evans\u2019 kinky priest Dean. Meanwhile, she strikes up a\u00a0sexual relationship with Aubrey Plaza\u2019s low-rank basement cop, MG<\/span>, as the result of some nonchalant and covert finger-banging right in the middle of a\u00a0busy police drinking den.<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s some neat hardboiled patter and a\u00a0smattering of humour that is never quite able to elicit more than a\u00a0knowing titter. There\u2019s also the nagging sense that Qualley is too youthful to be playing this world-weary detective who claims to have seen all the angles before and is repulsed by the transgressions of absolutely no-one. The flippant tone also makes it very hard to take any of the more earnestly emotional relationships seriously, such as that between Honey\u2019s wayward emo niece who becomes embroiled in this seamy underworld.<\/span><\/p>\n The overriding feeling you glean from <\/span>Honey Don\u2019t!<\/span><\/i> is that it\u2019s an example of two formidable filmmakers working in a\u00a0register that almost punkishly rejects the intricacy and breathtaking formal panache of their past work. From someone with <\/span>The Big Lebowski<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Miller\u2019s Crossing<\/span><\/i> on their CV<\/span>, this cheeky noir runaround is sadly missing a\u00a0few layers of intrigue and almost any satisfying pay-off, opting for more of an eye-rolling, Columbo-esque reveal than anything with any lasting impact. And a\u00a0sex-positive stance and a\u00a0surfeit of sass can only get you so far in this game. Coen and Cooke already have the early pieces in place for the final chapter in their lil off-the-cuff trilogy, so there\u2019s still time for them to really pull something out of the\u00a0bag.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\nGet more Little White\u00a0Lies<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n