Honey

This movie, if the director had cut out all of the acting and concentrated on 90 minutes of music videos, it would be immensley more entertaining. Ms. Alba was at the screening I attended and admitted she did not know how to dance prior to being signed for the movie. This was very evident in the movie when she was surrounded by actual dancers. The plot was extremely contrived and is full of ethnic stereotypes. From the evil Black drug dealer to the rich White yuppie drug buyer. Interestingly enough, Ms. Alba's Hispanic roots are completely ignored, perhaps to escape any comparison to Jennifer Lopes as she repeatedly stumbles over the ethnic slang that predominates the dialog. The screen play could have used a little bit more humor to counter balance the sometimes dark subject matter. The ending made little sense and reminded me of a scene from "The Brady Bunch" as they had to put on the 'Big Show' to raise money.

Any comparisons between "Honey" and "Glitter" are probably due to both movies having script-work by Kate Lanier (who, funnily enough, isn't listed on the completed movie)... and, of course, to their having slightly similar plots. Except that "Glitter" is likely to be more of a black mark on Mariah Carey's book than "Honey" is on Jessica Alba's.

This movie about a kind-hearted young woman in New York who uses dancing to help the people in her neighbourhood (the people that she meets when she's walking down the street... sorry, couldn't resist) and who's plucked from a nightclub to become the Paula Abdul of the 21st century - she even has a little mole on her face - is aptly named; it's as sweet-natured as its title character and has little if any benefit on your system, except to slip down nice and easy and leave not very much behind. It's filled with all the realism you'd expect from the producer of "Legally Blonde" and "Josie and the Pussycats," but it's not quite as much fun as either. Part of it is a personal thing (the Rodney Jerkins-executive produced music that permeates the movie isn't my thing, rhythmic though it is), but the thin, originality-challenged scripting and silly dialogue are more of a problem; when our bartender-by-night/dance-teacher-by-day heroine tells a kid "Your flava's hot" it's a little embarrassing, although in fairness "Honey"'s street talk doesn't make you wince as much as some other examples of this kind of thing.

To be honest, the movie pretty much goes in one ear and out the other; there's not a single truly dramatic moment, with the setbacks coming on cue (when Li'l Romeo's character gets arrested it, and many other moments in the movie, plays like a less-than-brilliant After School Special) and the characters are right out of Cliches Central, from the almost saintly title character to the sexually predatory rival dancer. (And note to the filmmakers: as anyone who's ever watched MTV, VH-1 et al will confirm, music videos don't credit the choreographer on screen... regardless of what the one that plays next to the movie's end credits might say.)

But it's impossible to really hate "Honey"; the movie's too harmless and good-tempered for anyone to get into a hissyfit over its drawbacks, and though the R&B-flavoured cameos mean a lot of people who see this movie will probably be going "Who's this Tweet person?" Missy Elliott is genuinely funny in her very brief scenes. The dancing's also good, which is one of the main reasons to go and see movies like this; and though it doesn't actually seem to have anything like a narrative drive (it just seems to end instead of climax), there have been worse movies from music video directors, e.g. almost anything directed by Russell Mulcahy.

Oh yes, Jessica. She doesn't quite seem like the streetwise type, but she isn't supposed to be; she looks the part and comes off reasonably well, as well as having the edge over Jennifer Beals in "Flashdance" in that she actually does most of her own dancing. This isn't really the best vehicle for her, to be honest, but Jessica's an undeniable charmer on screen, and far too sexy for this or anything she's been in (with the arguable exception of "Paranoid") to be an unbearable experience. All she has to do is improve her choice of scripts...

After reading a lot of the reviews on this board, I thought this movie was going to be really bad however I found that this movie isn't really as terrible as some people have made it out to be. Jessica Alba plays Honey Danies, a hip-hop dance teacher hoping to make it as a choreographer, for someone who didn't have any previous dance experience, she sure does a fantastic job! Mekhi Pfifer is good in his supporting role as the barber with a lot of heart.

This movie is something that has been done many times before so you can't expect an oscar nominated screenplay etc etc. However, its something you can enjoy and if you are into the music or dancing, then this is definitely something for you

a 6/10

Pros: - Jessica Alba is likeable

• The Dancing is good and frequent

• Missy Elliott, Tweet and other hip hop stars can be seen in cameo roles.

• It never gets too slow or too boring

Cons: - The characters don't feel realistic in certain situations

• ...that goes for the plot too. For example, peolpe seem to know a dance routine by looking at it once.

• The plot is unoriginal, you know where "Honey" is heading.

Summary: "Honey" is a likeable film, but you have to enjoy listening to hip hop and watch people dance.

Credit `Honey' with at least having its heart in the right place – even if its brain isn't always so easy to find. The ever sunny and optimistic Honey Daniels holds down two jobs in her increasingly hectic life – a bartender by night and a hip hop dance instructor by day. She has hopes of one day appearing in a music video, a dream that comes true when she catches the eye of a big time producer named Michael Ellis. Not only is Honey a smash in her first video appearance, but Michael immediately hires her as choreographer for one of his projects. As is typical in these strive-and-succeed tales, Honey soon discovers that success is not all that it's cracked up to be when Michael reveals his true colors, setting up conditions for her continued employment that she hadn't quite counted on (in other words, `put out or pull out'). But the always-undaunted Honey is not about to be knocked down that easily. She uses this little setback to start thinking less about herself and more about the street kids whom she sees turning into drug dealers and gangsters right before her rose-colored eyes. Filled with a righteous zeal and determination, she rallies the neighborhood to raise money for a new dance studio that can get the youngsters off the street, channel their energies in a more positive direction, and turn their lives around.

Only the most Scrooge-like curmudgeon could object to the positive, laudatory, pull-yourself-up-by–the-bootstraps message the film is trying to convey, and one would have to be downright inhuman not to feel uplifted by the final dance sequence. But good intentions and noble aspirations do not, in and of themselves, make for a quality film, and `Honey' is a long way from fitting that bill. The movie wants to be taken seriously as a realistic view of urban life but very little of what we see ever rings true, starting with Honey herself who, with her invariably perky demeanor, seems like a cross between Little Mary Sunshine and Mother Teresa in form fitting jeans and matching halter top. Everything that happens to her – from her meteoric rise in the music video world to her purchase of an empty store for her new dance studio to the benefit performance she and her dancers stage to raise the money for the project – all come about way too easily and with virtually no noticeable effort on her part. We never believe for a moment that any of this would happen in this way in the real world. Thus, `Honey' is really little more than an urban fairy tale, fine for children, I suppose, but not of much use for adults with a more pragmatic understanding of how life actually works.

Jessica Alba is no great shakes as an actress, though she has an infectious smile and a bubbly demeanor that work well on screen. But it is Zachary Williams, as the adorable, gap-toothed eight-year-old Raymond, who steals the show. Now that is one hell of an endearing little kid.