Melissa McCarthy was Hollywood’s “It” humorous girl when studios nonetheless cared about big-screen comedies.
That clout got here with a determined perk. It allowed McCarthy to group along with her husband, director Ben Falcone, on a sequence of movie romps. Tasks like “Lifetime of the Occasion,” “SuperIntelligence” and “Thunder Pressure” adopted.
Yikes. Watch out what you want for.
Lengthy-term relationships are difficult in Tinsel City. It have to be tantalizing to work with a romantic companion, relatively than spend weeks at a time away from dwelling on a film set. And kudos to McCarthy and Falcone for surviving in an trade that chews up {couples} and spits them out.
It doesn’t imply they click on on a film set, at the least creatively talking. The proof suggests in any other case. Heck, it screams in any other case.
And we’re seeing a brand new instance of that in actual time.
Contemplate director Ethan Coen and his off-screen companion Tricia Cooke. Coen is a part of considered one of Hollywood’s most gifted duos – Joel and Ethan Coen, the Oscar-winning brothers behind “Fargo,” “Elevating Arizona” and “The Huge Lebowski.”
The duo might do no mistaken for many years, however they took a while off in recent times to work on solo movies. That freed Ethan Coen as much as be a part of Cooke on two joint initiatives.
Cooke, who served as an editor for years, together with work on Coen movies like “The Huge Lebowski” and “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” co-wrote the screenplay for 2024’s “Drive-Away Dolls.”
That movie made this critic’s “Worst of the 12 months” checklist. It snagged a mildly optimistic 64 p.c “recent” score at Rotten Tomatoes however bombed in theaters – simply $5 million in US markets.
Now, Coen and Cooke are again collectively for “Honey Don’t!” Coen is behind the digicam once more, directing a screenplay he co-wrote with Cooke.
It’s the second in a proposed lesbian movie trilogy. The movie hits choose theaters Aug. 22 however wasn’t screened for Denver-area critics. The proverbial buzz for the title seems nonexistent.
Plus, choose critics have weighed in on the movie, and it isn’t fairly.
“Honey Don’t!” stars Margaret Qualley as a personal investigator who will get concerned along with her niece’s disappearance and a shady man of the fabric (Chris Evans). Aubrey Plaza and Charlie Day co-star at nighttime comedy, one arriving between the summer season blockbusters and Oscar season.
That’s not a superb signal. Neither is the primary spherical of critiques.
The movie at present sports activities a 46 p.c “rotten” score, with some critics going for the jugular:
Cooke and Coen submit one other dud in “Honey Don’t,” which provides unpleasantness, much more insufferable performances, and a central thriller that carries no cinematic weight. – Brian Orndorf
…“Honey Don’t!” seems like a mishmash of disparate elements that Coen and Cooke didn’t know tips on how to match collectively. The top result’s an exhausting disappointment, and a waste of the assembled expertise. – IndieWire
Even the optimistic notices are restrained of their reward. That’s not the everyday reception for an Ethan Coen challenge.
Let’s assume the {couples} in query cherished working collectively. And, if these experiences stored the marital bonds alive, all the higher.
Simply know audiences aren’t feeling as charitable in regards to the completed product.