Honey Film Review

Rating: Null/10 (6 May 2007)

In a modern day fairy tale the film Honey takes the audience through a "Cinderella Story" with a hip-hop twist. The story is crowded with incidents and subplots showing the negative side of growing up in bad neighborhood but also a young woman's attempt to liberate young kids to leave the temptations surrounding them. The main character struggles for personal success in changing environments but soon finds out that behind every promise of progression as a dancer lies an ulterior motive.
Every fairy tale finishes off with a happy ending but before that can be accomplished a conflict or series of obstacles needs to occur. A major issue in the film is the little opportunity presented to the children growing up in a bad neighborhood in New York's East Harlem. Honey Daniels, played by Jessica Alba, teaches hip-hop dancing at a local youth center and encourages the local kids to attend to keep them off the streets and out of trouble, but the temptations of drugs and violence swarm around them. The drug dealers are constantly looking for willing users, new users and possible future sellers to carry out their "transactions" on street corners, specifically targeting the youth. The obvious leader of a group of young kids whose views of right and wrong are obstructed is Benny, played by Lil Romeo. Benny is a dancer who has the most influence on the kids and a tighter relationship with Daniels.
In the film Daniels dreams of stardom in the world of dance are answered by famous music video director Michael Ellis, played by David Moscow. Casting her in a music video Daniels takes over the choreography and she is encouraged by Michael to make the transition from dancer to choreographer. But Daniels sudden success comes with a price with Michaels refusal to take no for an answer to his sexual advances and then tries to sabotage her career by blackmailing her out of the business.
In the end all conflicts are resolved and the promising youth in the Bronx are provided a dance studio made possible through a dance benefit. Personally, while the choreography by Laurieanne Gibson, who also plays Honey's nemesis in the film, and music, may be enough to grab Honey's target audience of urban adolescents, the film is extremely predictable and filled with horrible acting performances. But if you enjoy a fairy tale including all the good, the bad, the ugly, captivating choreography and catchy beats, then Honey is for you.