Twee Cancer and Adorable Kidnapping Plague "Honeyglue"

James Bird's gender-bending love story follows all of the rules.

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A twee romp through the familiar territory of indie faux-rebellion, James Bird's Honeyglue goes through all the regular motions.

This time the leads are Morgan, the naive and terminally ill teenage daughter of a loving family, and her love interest Jordan, a sanctimonious and gender-bending rebel with a dark past. After a cute shotgun wedding, the couple commits a cute robbery and randomly kidnaps a doctor—but in, like, a cute and consequence-free kinda way.

A powerful scene sporadically appears, but there's also a song-and-dance number, children's animation within the narrative, and the forced use of 19 mm film. As it tackles issues like cancer, death and gender dynamics, Honeyglue is a lot like Portland: conventionally unconventional.

Rated R.

Critic's Grade: C

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Willamette Week

Curtis Cook

Curtis Cook is a writer and standup comedian. Follow him on Twitter at @Curtis_Cook.

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