 Just
in time for Christmas, Universal Pictures brings us Honey,
a story about not giving up on dreams while learning about the true
meaning of friends and family. If it sounds clichéd, unfortunately,
it is. Basically Flashdance with a twist, Honey
tells the story of Honey Daniels (Jessica Alba from
TV’s Dark Angel), a talented upper middle class dancer
who breaks away from the safe road her parents have plotted for her
future to try to break into music videos. When her big break comes,
she embraces it with gusto and quickly moves from dancing in videos
to choreographing them for some of today’s hottest hip-hop and
R&B artists. But when everything falls apart, she returns to her
roots and rediscovers her love of dancing through working with the
neighborhood kids she used to teach in dance class.
It’s no surprise
that first-time feature film director Bille Woodruff
got his start directing music videos as there are several interspersed
throughout the movie, and the film often feels like a long video
without a compelling narrative. The visual style is strong, and
the sets and costumes feel real. But the story contains every cliché
in the book, and the acting is only so-so: Mekhi Phifer
(8 Mile) as the supportive boyfriend does as much as he
can with an under-written role, but Alba is over-earnest and a little
too nice. Overall, Honey was too sicky-sweet for me, but
I’m sure it will be an inspiration for the target audience
of teenage girls everywhere.
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