Margaret Qualley Sizzles in Noir of Ethan Cohen

The cinema is a medium of collaboration, and as such, there have been numerous directors teams seasoned throughout the history of the film. As with any collaboration, there is no guarantee that the group will be together forever, and sometimes the teams are really separated. The brothers Cohen, Ethan and Elloel have suffered such a creative decay around the beginning of this decade, with both moving to make their own movies without each other. Unlike some creative separations, however, the work of Coens Post-Breakup cannot differ from each other. Where Elloel made the "McBet tragedy" in 2021, a strict, intense moody adaptation of Shakespeare, who remembered Ingmar Bergman and Carl Theodor Dreyer, Ethan teamed up with his wife Tricia Cook to make "Traffic Dolls", Mixing tropes of B-movie (Departure of everything from Badlands to the 60's) that retained Coens's previous interest in dry humor and film noir.

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After announcing the "dolls", Cohen said he and Cook were planning A. "Lesbian B-Film Trilogy", "" And just over a year later, the second film arrived in that thematic trilogy: "Sweetheart not!" Chekillo has been named for the song Carl Perkins in 1956 (re -filmed by dozens of artists such as "The Beatles" and "Wanda Aksexon", the latest version of the film), the film is another today's classic noir, and the one who is unstable. However, where the long-lasting "dolls" seemed a little self-reflective in their tone, reminiscent Previous efforts of the Cohen Brothers Like the "Great Lebovski" and "Burning After Reading", "Sweetheart!" It feels much more unique. Of course, there is a lot of non-sector, some dead humor and some glossy compositions of shots, but for the most part, the film is intriguing, more indie flavor affair. Playing as if Allison Anders directed Jimim Armarmush copying a black scenario in Jane, which adapted an old novel by Raymond Chandler or Dashiel Hammet. With this attractive approach, Cohen and Cook make "Honey No!" Impressively nasty, sexy and idiosyncratic noir, the one that becomes even more intense thanks to the cracked lead performance than Margaret Quals.

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Sweetheart not! has an attractive off ring on it

"Sweetheart not!" It starts with what sounds like a scattered paper sequence: a beautiful, mysterious bomb (Lera Abova), dressed in leopard prints everything is approaching a car that recently crashed from the side of the remote highway, with the dead body of the driver, a young girl. While it is unclear whether this woman caused the fatal accident or not, the mystery deepens when it removes a ring from the dead girl's hand, then goes and swims naked in nearby Lake before leaving a motorcycle. The ring has a certain kind of cross on it, which we learn soon is the local church logo called a four -bedroom temple, driven by Pastor Dr. Devlin (Chris Evans). When the local private investigator Jay O'Donahu (Qualley) is informed by her local police detective contact, Marty (Charlie Day), about the girl's death and realizes she would try to hire her a few days earlier, she took her to oke in the city.

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As much as a classic noir, such as this story for the story, Cohen and Cook (which, as with "Drive-Away Dolls", probably co-regions of this movie without credit, also avoid any glitter or glamor that can be expected to be seen with it, especially if this was black or black. Instead, directors decide to absorb the whole setting of the film in a small town stew, aesthetics that make the film open, hiding the names of directors within the signals in the middle of the streets of Bakerfield, California (smart graphic design, which was a graphic design that "Fat City of Johnon Huston" In the press notes) to the types of "we must get out of this place". Perhaps "despair" is even a very strong word, because the characters do not feel so desperate to escape Bakersfield, as they are exhausted, after being imposed on their fate years ago. This resignation mood only makes the anti-heroes and creeps that inhabit the film closer to the daily shmoes, as it even takes away the romance of the urban noir and leaves the weakness and Enui. However, "sweetheart!" It's not a dark movie, as this backlog makes the moments of immediate wit, threat and intrigue, much brighter.

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Margaret Quals owns the screen in honey no!

The sun around which "sweetheart!" The orbits are Qualley, who once again proves what a huge talent is with this performance. Of course, the actress has the beauty and magnetism that many stars possesses, but it still becomes clear with every look as much as a personal actress. It is difficult to choose two Qualley roles that look alike; Of course, there is a large bay between the desire to satisfy, a lawsuit obsessed with a picture "The substance" And the nonsensical, take a go-in-leaf-leafy Jameimi's attitude in "Drive-Away Dolls". Honey makes another feather of the character in the Quals film, with the actress singing out a remarkable blend of confidence and clever. Of course, honey is dressed as women on covers of vintage pulp novels: high heels, tight, colorful dresses and so on. However, it is never excessive, with suit designer Peggy Schnitzer keeps the honey rooted in a small city fashion as it looks fantastic.

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It is an approach that compliments the treatment of Cohen and Cook with the face of honey, which is more earthy than not. It was an easy crutch to give the honey (and other characters) the mouth of a super stylized hard -to -important dialogue, but the writers are still stripping the needle to maintain the things that sound realistic, but allowing it to still have a prematurely. All actors make a meal of this approach; Evans once again entertained playing sunbathing, a day is an attractive blend of horny and unclean, and Aubrey Plaza brings his special approach to the left center to MG, a police officer who becomes a lubricant. But it is Qualley who so thoroughly takes over the films that would still be a pleasure to see even if there was no one else in it.

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Cohen and Cook's idiosyncrasies have undermined film comedy

It is so wonderful to have a genre film to feel this personalized and to be uninterested by serving an IP or a pleasant crowd that can be easy to neglect its deficiencies. The brightest of these is the fact that, despite believing it to be a dark comedy (and throws the veterans of veterans of Sitkom, Plaza, Day and Billy Eichner), "Sweetheart!" It's not that funny. Of course, there are a few laughter to have, and it is possible that the revealed audience can raise the funny factor of the film. However, the panties in the film are likely to cause a smile of knowledge rather than laughter on the stomach. That creative choice that serves the film so well - Coen and Cooke, who return to the required dialogue with too much noir - has a flip -side of the way all the characters come out witty and clever, but not so much that they will get more than a smile.

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It is not like Cohen not to try, as he gives Pastor attracted an unhappy digger (Oshos Pafchek) that resembles the moronic cucumbers that are seen in many films of the Cohen brothers from "Raising Arizona" to "Fargo", and is fun to see him and another character. However, Cohen and Cook seem to be hellish to maintain close control of the film's tone, which means we don't get Zany, simply-just-out from the Shenanigans control of the Cohen Brothers' previous films, or even much more reasonable "dolls". It's a small complaint, of course, but to put in terms of the Cohen brothers, the film seems to be caught between "No Earth for the Old People" and "Burn after reading", neither too dark nor too much cartoon.

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Honey has no refreshing honesty toward the madness of the genre

Overall, however, what the film lacks in it laughs more than it complements it with the essence of the hip that covers every frame. The sexuality of the movie-which is mostly lesbian-is just as sincere as in "Drive-Away Dolls", but less shame. Where the "dolls" treated sex in a way similar to the sexual comedy (because it is one of the many types of exploitation films that the film was starring), "Honey" is more than earth. Even the continuous heterosexuals of Pastor Drew, as alert as some of them, have sincere discomfort to them. The physical comfort of honey and mg extends to the film itself: there is a post-coalit scene where MG's pierced nipple is exposed to a long, continuous shot, but in the end the whole concept of titylated fades in the background, allowing us to find a similar level of intimacy.

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Noir is a very manageable genre; It is the one that Cohen woke up several times before, of course. However, it is difficult to think about another recent noir movie that is quiet, yet abundant engagement, this reduction, but without effort. Havee must return to the 1970s, with films like Robert Altman's "Long Goodbye" or 90s, with films like "Last Secreation" or a decade ago, with a criminal under 2015 "too late". Fortunately, Cohen and Cook gave us the example of this decade for such a movie "Honey No!", Which may look small at first glance, but has a wonderful rich effect, like the smell of stagnant cigarette smoke forever trapped in Wallsids at the Rendeun Bar. Then, this is my favorite of Coen and Cooke's asat-unprotent lesbian B-film trilogy, and unless they do something like "lesbians in space" next, I don't see how it falls in my rank.

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/Movie rating: 7.5 out of 10

"Sweetheart not!" It opens in theaters on August 22, 2025.



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