Honey (movie)
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For the 2004 independent film, see Honey (2004 movie).
Honey is a 2003 motion picture released by Universal Pictures. Featuring music produced by Rodney Jerkins, the film stars Jessica Alba, Mekhi Phifer, Lil' Romeo, Joy Bryant, Missy Elliott and David Moscow. A number of popular hip hop and R&B musicians make cameos in the film, including Jerkins, Jadakiss and Sheek of The Lox, Tweet, and Ginuwine.
The film grossed $27 million at the US box office, and was released on DVD and VHS on March 23 2004.
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Plot
Honey Daniels (Alba) is an aspiring dancer hoping to make her name in music videos. By day, she works for her mother's New York City youth center, teaching dance to local children. By night, Honey dances in New York hip-hop clubs and tends the bar.
Video director Michael Ellis (Moscow) discovers Honey dancing in a New York City hip-hop nightclub and offers her the opportunity to appear in a video with Jadakiss and Sheek of The Lox.
From that starting point, Honey quickly rises as a successful music video choreographer for Ellis' videos, eventually working for performers such as Tweet and Mark Ronson. During an industry party, a drunken Ellis hits on Honey; after being turned down, he replaces Honey with a competing choreographer for the latest Ginuwine video, in a classic example of casting couch mentality. The loss is a heartbreaker not only for Daniels, but for the children in her youth group, whom she promised roles in the video.
Honey had been planning to use her money to purchase an abandoned building, which she wanted to renovate in a hip hop dance studio for the youth group. Now blackballed by Ellis, she can no longer find good work in music videos, and instead puts on a benefit show with the children to attract outside sponsors. After threatening to fire Ellis when she discovers that Honey no longer works for him, Missy Elliott shows up at the benefit show to request her services. As a result, the children's dance studio gets a sponsor, and Honey returns to major-label video choreography.
Cast
- Jessica Alba - Honey Daniels
- Lil' Romeo - Benny
- Mekhi Phifer - Chaz
- David Moscow - Michael Ellis
- Zachary Williams - Raymond
- Joy Bryant - Gina
- Missy Elliott - Missy Elliott
- Anthony Sherwood - Mr Daniels
- Lonette McKee - Mrs Daniels
Critical Response
Honey was released to mixed reviews. On Yahoo! Movies Critical Response, the average professional critical rating was a C, while user reviews rated it as a B. On the Internet Movie Database, viewers gave it an average rating of 3.2; on march 19 2004, the film was #59 on the list of the Bottom 100 worst-received films.
Soundtrack
- "J-A-D-A" - Jadakiss and Sheek
- "I Believe" - Yolanda Adams
- "React" - Eric Sermon
- "Ooh Wee" - Mark Ronson featuring Ghostface and Siagon
- "Hurt Sumthin" - Missy Elliott
- "Thugman" - Tweet
- "Closer" - Goapele
- "Now Ride" - Fabolous
- "Gimme the Light - Sean Paul
- "I'm Good" - Blaque
- "When I Think Of You" - Amerie
- "Leave Her Alone - Nate Dogg featuring Rocafella Crew
The Honey soundtrack peaked in the upper 100s of The Billboard 200 albums chart, with Blaque's "I'm Good" making it to the rhythmic top 40 and the Australian Top 40.
External links
- Honey (2003) movie web site (http://www.honey-movie.com/)
- Yahoo Movies Honey web page (http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1808457794&intl=us/)
- Template:Imdb titlede:Honey