Critical reception The film was screened out of competition at the
1981 Cannes Film Festival.
Honeysuckle Rose holds a 60% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes based on six reviews.
Wide Open Country music magazine ranked it the second best Willie Nelson film, behind
Red Headed Stranger. Film critic
Roger Ebert called the film "sly and entertaining" yet ultimately predictable and disappointing:The movie remains resolutely at the level of superficial cliché, resisting any temptation to make a serious statement about the character's hard-drinking, self-destructive lifestyle...
Honeysuckle Rose has the kind of problems that can be resolved with an onstage reconciliation in the last scene:
Willie and
Dyan singing a duet together and everybody knowing things will turn out all right.
Box-office Honeysuckle Rose opened theatrically in 826 venues on July 18, 1980, and earned $2,189,966 in its first weekend, ranking third in the domestic box office. Ultimately, the film grossed $17,815,212.
Variety put its domestic rentals at $9 million. The film made a substantial amount of its total revenue from a presale of television rights to
NBC for just under $5 million, which made it profitable.
Accolades The film is recognized by
American Film Institute in these lists: • 2004:
AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: • "On the Road Again" – Nominated ==Soundtrack==