Honey is a 2003 American dance film directed by Billie Woodruff and stars Jessica Alba, Mekhi Phifer, Romeo Miller, Joy Bryant, David Moscow, with featured performances by Tweet, Jadakiss and Ginuwine and a cameo by Missy Elliott.
Honey | |
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Directed by | Bille Woodruff |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | John R. Leonetti |
Edited by |
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Music by | Mervyn Warren |
Production company | NuAmerica Entertainment |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 94 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $18 million[1] |
Box office | $62.2 million[1] |
Honey Daniels works as a bartender, a record store clerk and a dance teacher at a community center run by her mother in NYC. Her dream is to become a hip hop choreographer, though her mother presses her to teach ballet uptown.
Honey and her rival Katrina are recorded having a dance off. Honey and her friend Gina find brothers Benny and Raymond street dancing and invite them to Honey's classes.
The dance off video reaches video director Michael Ellis, who gives Honey a job as a backup dancer and asks Honey to replace his choreographer. Soon, her career brings money, fame and freedom, but takes her away from the center and the neighborhood kids.
Raymond tells Honey Benny got into a fight in which their mother’s boyfriend split Benny's lip. Honey offers Benny a job as her assistant if he keeps out of trouble. She convinces Michael to use the kids she teaches in Ginuwine's new video. Honey begins dating Raymond's barber Chaz, who inspires her to focus on her happiness and not on the fame. She puts down a deposit on an old store she can turn into a dance studio.
When Michael says they cannot miss an important meeting, Honey cancels plans to take Gina to Atlantic City for her birthday. However, it is actually a networking party, where Michael drunkenly hits on her. She slaps him and leaves. Gina is furious to see a newspaper photo of Honey being kissed at the party she claimed was work. At the Ginuwine shoot, Michael reneges on having the kids in the video and fires her, showing up on set with Katrina.
The kids are heartbroken. Benny returns to drug dealing and lands in juvy after being busted. When Honey visits him he is hostile, telling her to leave him alone. She obliges but first asks how often his gangster friends visit him. Benny realizes that none of his "friends" have visited him and sees that he is a poor example to Raymond, and that he has disappointed himself. He realizes he can accomplish his hopes and dreams.
Honey is relieved when Gina forgives her. Since the ruined Ginuwine video, income has dried up due to Michael blackballing Honey in the industry. The remainder of the down payment must be paid or the store will go back on the market. Honey decides to hold a dance benefit at an abandoned church and newly-released Benny brings his dance friends to help.
Michael pushes Katrina as choreographer for a Missy Elliott video, but she says Katrina's sexy dance moves are not for her and she only wants Honey. Michael begs Honey to come back again, offering to buy her the studio. Realizing that the artists want her back, she refuses, declaring she will pay for the studio herself. She berates Michael for his selfish arrogance, pointing out that not only did he blackball her out of pettiness, he also betrayed the kids.
Gina's bank manager asks arts donors to attend the benefit, which is a full house and everyone is enthusiastic about the performances. Honey's mother finally sees that the dance form her daughter loves can give her everything that ballet could. The bank manager assures Honey the building is fully funded.
Missy Elliott arrives as the benefit finishes, rushing in to meet Honey. She introduces Honey to R&B group Blaque at her new dance studio, The Bronx Dance Center, to prepare their new video.
A number of popular hip hop and R&B musicians, groups and producers play themselves in prominent cameos, including Missy Elliott, Jadakiss, Sheek Louch, Shawn Desman, Ginuwine, Rodney Jerkins, 3rd Storee, Tweet, and Blaque.
The film is inspired by the life of choreographer Laurieann Gibson, who was the film's choreographer and appeared on screen as Katrina, the main character's rival.[2][3]
Singer/actress Aaliyah was reportedly originally cast as Honey, though the role was later recast to Jessica Alba due to Aaliyah's death in August 2001.[4] However, in 2020, director Bille Woodruff debunked the rumor, stating: "That’s incorrect. It was supposed to be Beyoncé. That’s been widely reported but it’s incorrect, [Beyoncé] couldn’t do it because of her touring schedule for her first album Dangerously in Love."[5]
Honey was released to mostly negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 21% based on reviews from 116 critics, with an average rating of 4.20/10. The critical consensus reads, "An attractive Jessica Alba and energetic dance numbers provide some lift to this corny and formulaic movie".[6] Metacritic, based on 30 reviews, gives the film a score of 37 out of 100, signifying generally unfavorable reviews.[7]
A. O. Scott of The New York Times was one of the critics to give the film a positive review, noting that it "brings out the wholesome, affirmative side of the hip-hop aesthetic without being overly preachy, although it will not impress anyone with its originality."[8]
The film opened at #2 at the U.S. box office, earning US$12.9 million in its opening weekend, behind The Last Samurai. The final box office was $30.3 million in the U.S. and Canada and $31.9 million in other countries, for a total of $62.2 million worldwide.[1]
A soundtrack containing hip hop, R&B, funk and disco music was released on November 11, 2003 by Elektra Records. It peaked at #105 on the Billboard 200 and #47 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.
Bille Woodruff, the director of Honey, also directed three sequels, the theatrically released Honey 2 (2011) and two straight-to-video sequels Honey 3: Dare to Dance (2016) and Honey: Rise Up and Dance (2018), each with different casts.
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