Plot: What’s it about?
When you look at all the movies that the Coen brothers have given us, it’s hard to point out any “bad” ones. Sure, viewers have their favorites, but by and large I think we can say that they sibling duo of Joel and Ethan Coen are a talented lot. Films like No Country for Old Men, Fargo and hell, I even enjoyed Hail Caesar! That said, the duo decided to go their separate ways not because of a feud, rather to “explore their creative paths.” I think I read that somewhere and passed it off as my own, if not – you get the idea. Having said all that, Honey Don’t! serves as the second installment in a planned “lesbian B-Movie Trilogy.” Yes, you read that correctly. As I’m sure fans know, the first installment was Drive-Away Dolls. I have, as of this writing, no idea what the third one will be.
We meet Honey O’Donahue, a Private Detective who arrives at the scene of what appears to be a fatal car accident. The woman in the driver’s seat is dead, but also a prospective client who’d had reached out to Honey the day prior. She hides this from the police detective, Marty (Charlie Day). Honey investigates and discovers the woman’s connection to a shady church run by Rev. Drew Devlin (Chris Evans). He traffics narcotics and takes advantage of female parishioners. He’s also got the power to order the murder of anyone who might incriminate him. This sets the story so we’re not really trying to solve a mystery. We’ve got some subplots thrown in notably where Honey strikes up an affair with a policeman, MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza). And in another her troubled niece, Corinne (Talia Ryder) goes missing – this is another plot, not another affair. Does all of this have anything to do with the woman in the car?
If I could describe the film it’d be…interesting. It’s not mind-blowing and it’s certainly not as original as some of the other bodies of work that Ethan Coen had a hand in making. But the appeal of the Coen’s and their films has been the collaboration between the brothers. One half of that team is great, but the two together seemed touched by God. That said, this is a competent cast full of recognizable faces and the plot isn’t that bad, but it just seems to lack direction. Then again the second installments of trilogies are usually a means to an end, rather than summing up with happened in the first one. Is Honey Don’t! for you? If Drive-Away Dolls was, then yes. Otherwise…
Video: How’s it look?
I’m raking my brain to think of a scene in Fargo where there’s an actual amount of color. And I’m drawing a blank. Nevertheless, we find Honey Don’t! shown in a 1.85:1 AVC HD encode which looks pretty darn snappy. Unlike its predecessor, this one seems to embrace more earthy tones and certainly has shades of No Country for Old Men in its visual presentation, detail is excellent and even those odd transitions look their best. Being a new-to-the-format disc we know what to expect. There’s really nothing I can find to complain about (not that I was looking for something). It should satisfy.
Audio: How’s it sound?
In what is a bit of a head-scratcher, we find a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix. I don’t know why they didn’t go all the way and just put an Atmos track on there, but it’s really of little consequence. Vocals are pure, rich and clean, surrounds are used surprisingly often and do add some ambiance to what would have otherwise been, lifeless scenes. These films don’t really rely on audio all that much, but I found this one to be just a touch better than some of the others. Like the video, it delivers.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc contains no supplemental materials.
The Bottom Line
If you’re watching this looking for a mystery movie that’ll challenge your intellect, it’ll disappoint. If you’re looking at it from a campy standpoint, it’ll play a lot better. Universal’s disc looks and sounds great, but the lack of any supplements makes this one a hard sell.
