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 producer,
Rodney Jerkins,
Jadakiss and
Sheek Louch of
The Lox,
Tweet, and
Ginuwine. Canadian R&B artist
Shawn Desman was also featured. R&B and hip-hop singer
Aaliyah, a close friend of
Missy Elliott, was originally cast as the main star of the film before her death.
Tagline: Her dream. Her terms.
Plot
Honey wants to be a big time dancer, but she's having trouble making it to the top. But finally she's spotted by big-time producer Michael Ellis, who offers her a job. Honey willingly accepts, and gets started straight away. She's a big hit and even gets a promotion, but soon her boss tries to make sexual advances on her, which Honey declines and loses her job. Meanwhile the community center, where Honey works voluntarily as a hip-hop dance teacher, is falling apart. Soon Honey is forced to find a new dance studio and finds herself in a financial snag because of her previous job loss. She decides to put on a big dance performance to raise money for a studio. It's a hit and Honey opens up her own studio.
Critical response
Honey was released to poor reviews. On
Yahoo! Movies Critical Response, the average professional critical rating was a C.
Rotten Tomatoes rated the film as being "rotten", with only 16% of 105 reviews having favorable responses.
[Honey on Rotten Tomatoes]
The film grossed $27 million at the US
box office, and was released on
DVD and
VHS on
March 23,
2004.
Soundtrack
- "Hurt Sumthin" - Missy Elliott
- "I'm Good" - Blaque
- "Gimme the Light - Sean Paul
- "React" - Eric Sermon ft. Redman
- "Leave Her Alone - Nate Dogg featuring Roc-a-Fella Crew
- "Ooh Wee" - Mark Ronson featuring Ghostface Killah and Saigon
- "It's A Party" Tamia
- "Thugman" - Tweet
- "Now Ride" - Fabolous
- "J-A-D-A" - Jadakiss and Sheek
- "Think Of You" - Amerie
- "Closer" - Goapele
- "I Believe" - Yolanda Adams
The
Honey soundtrack peaked at #105 on the
The Billboard 200 albums chart, with Blaque's "I'm Good" making it to the rhythmic top 40 and the
Australian Top 40.
Trivia
- The club scenes in the film were filmed at The Guvernment club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- Honey's first job with Mike Ellis as a dancer showed a clip of the Silvercup Studios.
- Aaliyah was the director's first choice for the lead role however the role was given to Alba due to Aaliyah's death.
- Romeo and Zachary Williams did not only both star in this movie together but Zachary also played Romeo's little brother again in his own tv show, Romeo!, which they co-starred together as brothers.
- Shawn Desman's song "Sexy" is featured in the movie but is not on the soundtrack.
