Cinequest: WILD HONEY

Rusty Schwimmer and Stephnie Weir in WILD HONEY

The talented actress Rusty Schwimmer plays Gabby, that rebellious oldest daughter whose bad choices have left her, at age 49, in a puddle of low self-esteem and underachievement.  Having caught her loser boyfriend cheating, she’s now back living with her hypercritical mom and working out of the bedroom as a phone sex operator.  She connects with an unusually empathetic and reflective customer, and decides to travel across the country to try to meet him.

Schwimmer does as much as possible with the material, and there’s a very appealing performance by Timothy Omundson as her favorite mystery caller.  There’s also a moment at a taco truck,  the funniest and only original moment in Wild Honey, when the Gabby and her sister (Stephnie Weir) two sisters slide into a gibberish language from their childhood.  But there’s not much else we haven’t seen before in Wild Honey, a clunky,  predictable and disappointing film.

Wild Honey premiered at the Austin Film Festival and plays Cinequest 2018.