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Honey
Movie Review: Honey (Alba) works three jobs in the Bronx to make ends meet--as a barmaid, a record shop clerk and teaching hip-hop dance in the community centre run by her parents (Sherwood and McKee). Eventually she's noticed by a hot-shot music video director (Moscow) and her climb to stardom as a dancer-choreographer begins. Meanwhile, she struggles to find time for her best friend (Bryant), is romanced by a local barber (Phifer) and tries to help two kids (Romeo and Williams) make the most of their talent. But it's not easy juggling success, relationships and social responsibility, especially when your boss starts hitting on you and all the big stars want to work with you. The
plot is pure fluff, with a script structured in such a way
that you never doubt anything for a second (and you never
believe anything either). The screenplay was probably only
about 30 pages long, since the film is padded out with endless
dance sequences. Fortunately, these numbers are energetically
performed and choreographed, with Alba providing a strong
presence at the centre. Romeo and Williams are able to make
a lot more of their underwritten roles than Phifer manages
(but then, he's also badly cast here). And Moscow makes
a nicely charming creep--the kid from Big all grown up!
OK, so the film's enjoyable in a guilty pleasure sort of
way, especially while laughing at the sloppy sentiment.
And you realise what a mess it is when Missy Elliot completely
steals the show in two brief scenes. With a bit more of
this sparky personality, the film could have been a lot
more fun. As it is, you'll be just as entertained watching
MTV for 90 minutes. Spotted in a nightclub by high profile director Michael Ellis (Moscow), Honey Daniels (Alba) is asked to dance in his next music video. Michael quickly realises that he has a real talent on his hands and gives Honey her dream job as his dance choreographer. As she starts to become famous, Honey decides to put her fame to good use and bring dance to her New York community. In the 1980s Flashdance, Footloose, Fame and even Breakdance brought dancing to the big screen and Honey is the first attempt of the new millennium to re-ignite that craze. The problem is that the complete lack of the plot throws a bucket of water over that tender flame. While the aforementioned movies didn’t excel in the story department either, Honey feels more lacking than any of them. Characters and subplots are forgotten about and left dangling throughout, with only Honey’s main plotline having any real development and even that isn’t much. The film does come into its own during the dance sequences however with local kids showing their skills. Most men would gladly watch Jessica Alba writing her shopping list for ninety minutes, so the image of her in skimpy, tight fitting clothing getting jiggy with it could be what dreams are made of. She is extremely beautiful and very talented, so it is a shame that the script only concentrates on her physical and dancing attributes and not on her acting ability. There is nothing really to challenge her here meaning that it probably won’t be the highest movie on her résumé when she auditions for a more dramatic role. The story doesn’t really give much to the supporting cast with David Moscow as Michael Ellis and Lil’ Romeo as Benny having the largest roles. Mekhi Phifer is wasted as Honey’s love interest Chaz but there are cameos from Hip Hop stars such as Missy Elliott to please fans of the music. Trying to bring the dance movie back for a new generation could have been achieved with a better screenplay but while Honey has the moves in the dance sequences, it just trips and falls everywhere else.
Star Rating = * * Site Contents Copyright© The Z Review, unless used with permission.This site has no intention to infringe on the rights of the film owners of Honey and intellectual copyright holders of the movies mentioned herein & hold copyright over the movie, characters, merchandise & storyline. |
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