Honey

I stumbled on this while channel-surfing and was pleasantly surprised. Many positive messages tucked in to an appealing story acted out by a surpassingly attractive cast: Be true to yourself; follow your dream (but don't sell out); love your neighbor, stay loyal to your friends, your family, and your 'hood. It reminded me of when I saw Krush Groove as a teen and it gave me a window into a whole other world. Except now hip hop is the dominant pop culture and not exotic anymore. But we still rarely get to see positive characters of color with their emotional depth fully explored. Lil Romeo gives an especially nuanced performance.

Jessica Alba is the star of the show; in this movie and in Hollywood since I don't know when. Her situation is something to detail about. Personally, I look at her and I think she has acted her whole life. Everyone talks about her everyday as if she had decades in the business, but she doesn't. I could say I believe she's done over ten films, when this movie was probably her fifth important role. She did a TV show I never saw for two years, but even before that, her name was on the poster of the movies she appeared in. She is a star by nature, a leading star; and "Honey" is the evidence that proves my statement.

When the film starts, Honey Daniels (Alba) is working at the bar in a disco serving the usual free drinks to her best friend Gina (Joy Briant): "One, please", the friend says, and two guys standing right by her get closer: "Make that three". Honey, with a big smile in her face, tells the guys: "Today is your lucky day", and then Gina interrupts: "Don't get to excited though; she'll not be here much longer…She's gonna make it". So the guys ask how she's gonna make it.

Right away we find out Honey dances; and that she dances awesomely well. If Alba did her own dance moves I don't know for sure, but it always looks like her; in the dance floor, in the videos, in the dance lessons. OK, the film: Honey has a great talent for dancing and she could be a classic ballerina but she prefers to teach hip-hop in a place her mother owns. She goes to auditions, she works hard, and she ultimately gets recognized.

But Alonzo Brown and Kim Watson's story is not about "making it"; it is about the good-hearted people who fight for what they want, don't sell and don't quit. I don't even know if this is a veridical portrait of the hip hop world, but the video shoots seem real and I guess the artists/directors relationships should be how the movie shows them. What I wanted to say is that in the music world, mostly with hip hop (which I consider the easiest market today), when people make it, it goes over their heads, and they leave everything behind.

Although not Honey Daniels; she'll not fall into temptation, and she'll be there for the ones she cares for. It may sound too formulaic, but it's beautiful. Debutant director at the time Bille Woodruff, with previous experience from musical videos, shows us the nice face of his characters' world. Everything is shiny, everyone's happy, everyone's smiling. Yeah, sure some bad things happen, but everything will be ultimately worked out.

Great casting work with the youngsters, especially with Zachary Williams as a little boy, Raymond, who needs someone to watch over him; and Lil' Romeo in a tremendous and talented performance as the teenager Benny, who debates himself about being a gangster or a normal child. This plus Missy Elliott's cameo and Mekhi Phifer in the most charming performance of his career, and the some of the best lines as: "You peoples? Playa, playa, how'd you swing that? I've been trying' to be her peoples for weeks; ain't had no luck".

Not enough? Alba looks gorgeously beautiful in every outfit she wears and her acting skills are way above the film's requirements…She's stunning now and it is only the beginning.

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...

This is a beautiful little movie that just fun to watch. Okay it's full of clichés, predictable in some places, the dialogs are funky sometimes.

But who cares?

If you have nothing to do on a saturday night and your boyfriend/girlfriend just dumped you this movie will get you right up! You've got good vibes coming from all over this movie.

The dancing scenes are really tight, the casting has been done beautifully especially casting Jessica Alba. God she likes shines of the screen.

Go and see this movie, it's fun...

Oh but there is one thing that I kept noticing. And that was that the movie resembles "Glitter" in so many ways. I see that the scriptwriter Kate Lanier worked on both projects.

If you wanna see a hot young beautiful girl shaking her bootie (and not in a vulgar way) go ahead and watch the movie!Jessica alba's character is way to innocent and a bit fake...I mean how can a girl like that , dressed like that could walk alone at night in a neighborhood like that...and what about Michael... how can that person could actually be successful...To me the only two things that are worth watching are the dancers ( a plus for Jessica alba) and the scenes with Missy Elliot!!But anyway it's really frustrating you have to write at least 10 lines...I'm running out of ideas...In conclusion go to the movie if you want because who knows...maybe you would like it.