Honest - Beinahe ehrlich

To give you an idea of how utterly dull and lifeless this movie is, I will tell you now that the last word of this review is going to be the film title used in a humorous and non too obvious fashion. OK?

So, to the film. Some films do exist that make Brian De Palma's Mission to Mars look like a masterpiece....... I have yet to see one yet and this doesn't even come close. Even though it is awful. And by awful I mean dull, lifeless, cricket, dire, boring. Dave Stewart, as the guitarist and co songwriter has had to put up with Annie Lennox for a good 2 decades so lets not be too hard on him, the film does have its moments. They cost 90p each on a £3.60 ticket. (Or about $1.25 in America on a $5 ticket.) Yes, two of the girls appear topless in the film and while this is no bad thing, I can't see them being given another movie anytime soon.

Mel Blatt is good in the film. She appears natural to this business we call SHOW. Nicole also has her moments (90p remember). Natalie however, the eldest of the two sisters isn't that great in the film. In fact, I'm being kind. A blind monkey with a badger strapped round it's head could have pulled a better performance. Reminiscent of an early Turtletaub or a late Howard.

Unfortunately, the casting is where the movie fails. While 66% of the All Saints are good in this film, 33% aren't. A better idea would have been to cast 3 of the S Club 7 girls in it (Tina obviously getting the boot). Because S Club 7 exist in farce, their cheeky smiles and mischievous ways would have blended perfectly with the Honest backdrop of Cockney England.

Anyway, in conclusion, I can't really recommend this film enough. 90p a nip is a bargain in today's climate. I just feel that S Club 7 would have made a far superior film to the one that we were given. Honest.

This was I film I saw by accident, the film I meant to watch being sold out. As a result I had no preconceptions about it, no prejudice about the leading actresses, which in this case was probably a good thing. The acting of the three pop stars playing the three criminal sisters, Robin Hoods except that they themselves are the poor they give to, is not all that bad, and probably is scrutinized harder than usual because you know they are not really trained actors. The character of Gerry in particular is well played, despite the occasional false note in the cockney accent. They get themselves into trouble with drug dealers and local gangland bosses and drag in an innocent American who falls for Gerry after she assaults him with a life size roughly female and half nude work of art. There are comic moments to keep the film going when the action is thin on the ground, note the rich aristocratic heir who fills his time putting out a 60s subversive magazine. The portrayal of 1960s London and the contrast between those caught in their hippie revolution and those in the East End whose lives seem little changed since the 1940s feels reasonably authentic and is one of the pleasures of the film. One scene of a drug effected festival can give an edge of vertigo. The film touches on a lot of issues through its characters, rich versus poor, traditional versus modern, female equality, but does not explore any of them in any depth. While this may annoy some, I believe many would argue that this is not the point of the film. Overall, do not expect a classic or a memorable impression on your life, but if you are open minded and let yourself simply be entertained then you could well have an enjoyable time watching this.

Despite the pathetic protestations of the Director and production company, this film was nothing more than a 'Spice World II'. Nothing wrong with that as Spice World had an ardent audience of pre-teens/ teens and made money. But no, Honest Productions seemed to think that 'Honest' was serious art for adults. Very misguided, but apparently they persuaded their distributors of same. Had the Director curbed his ego (and obvious desperation to be seen as a serious director), cut the violence and sex so that the REAL audience for this film: teen and pre-teen fans of the All Saints had access, this film might actually have found its true audience and made some money. Yet it seems only adults went to see movie, in hopes of getting a good look at the Appleton sisters' breasts. In casting three non-actors who obviously couldn't muster up the ironic edge to give a silly story any real comic value; attaching an aging pop star who clearly can't direct; and trying to sell this as 'serious art', the team behind this pic cut their own throats. Why didn't the distributors, who ought to know better, insist that this be edited to get a 15 certificate? That's even more idiotic than the film itself.

This film started poorly and did very little to pull itself up and away from the lowest common denominator; 'roll up and see the All Saints get their boobs out!' Any film needs more than celebrity nudity to make it watchable - sadly Honest didn't have much else to recommend it. The script is average, the plot has an exciting base but doesn't build on this, and the Appleton accents are 'novel' at best. For me Melanie comes away her head held high. She is sweet and engaging as Jo, but is that because she is a good actress or that Melanie Blatt herself is sweet and engaging? The film would always be slated in England regardless of how good it was. It isn't terrible, but it definitely isn't anything to write home about.

I remember getting my mum to record this onto VHS for me way back when (I was about 20 and like many others thought the Appletons and Blatt were fit) so looked forwards to seeing a feature-length excuse to see the girls trying their hand at acting.

Obvs there's nudity in it. That's literally the first thing anyone knew about this film. What becomes apparent very quickly however is that this film absolutely sucks.

I think I ffwded through the VHS to find the nudity, but don't ever remember actually seeing it because in reality those bits are just two blink-and-you'll-miss-it glimpses of boob. I didn't actually watch the film.

Here in 2023 I discovered the film is available to stream via a site in the states (an English film about London you can't actually watch in the U. K. unless you're silly enough to waste money buying or renting it, lol)

Watching it I wished I'd still got a ffwd button. I persevered though, but the whole thing is absolute s***e. Really unenjoyably low-rate. St Trinians is probably better than this.

Still haven't finished it but I will force myself to. It will be good to know I never have to watch this again. Absolutely awful.