Honey (2003 film)
Encyclopedia
Honey is a 2003
2003 in film
The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...

 motion picture released by Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

. Featuring music produced by Rodney Jerkins
Rodney Jerkins
Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. Jerkins received two Grammy nominations in 2011.-Biography:...

, the film stars Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba
Jessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...

, Mekhi Phifer
Mekhi Phifer
Mekhi Thira Phifer is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his multi-year role as Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama ER and his co-starring role opposite Eminem in the feature film 8 Mile...

, Lil' Romeo
Lil' Romeo (rapper)
Percy Romeo Miller, Jr. , better known by his stage name Romeo , is an American rapper, actor, basketball player, entrepreneur, and model. He is the son of rapper and entrepreneur Master P and former rapper Sonya C. He is the nephew of rappers C-Murder and Silkk the Shocker and the brother of...

, Joy Bryant
Joy Bryant
Joy Bryant is an American actress and former fashion model. Joy currently stars as Jasmine Trussell in Parenthood-Early life:...

, David Moscow
David Moscow
David Raphael Moscow is an American actor. His first major role was as the young Josh Baskin in the 1988 film Big, in which his character was magically transformed into an adult played by Tom Hanks.-Early life:...

 and features performances by Tweet
Tweet (singer)
Tweet is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.-Early years:The youngest child of Tom and Shirley Keys, Tweet was born in Rochester, New York on January 21, 1972, and grew up singing in the church along with her parents and her four older siblings...

, Jadakiss
Jadakiss
Jason Phillips , better known as Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. Jadakiss is one of the three owners of the imprint known as D-Block. In early 2007, Jadakiss signed to Roc-a-Fella Records / Def Jam Records.-Early life:By the age of 16, Jadakiss was a freestyle...

 and Ginuwine
Ginuwine
Elgin Baylor Lumpkin , better known by his stage name Ginuwine is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Signed to Epic Records since the mid-1990s, Ginuwine had released a number of multi-platinum and platinum-selling albums and singles, becoming one of R&B's top artists during the late 1990's...

. It also features a cameo by Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...

. Honey was followed by a sequel, Honey 2
Honey 2
Honey 2 is a dance film which follows the 2003 film Honey. It stars Katerina Graham, Randy Wayne, Melissa Molinaro, Lonette McKee and Audrina Patridge...

, released on June 10, 2011.

Plot

Honey Daniels (Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba
Jessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...

) is a Bartender and Dance Teacher at the local community centre in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. Having dreams to make it as a backup dancer in music videos, Honey and rival Katrina (Laurieann Gibson) are recorded dancing one night in the club where she works. That same night, Honey and friend Gina (Joy Bryant
Joy Bryant
Joy Bryant is an American actress and former fashion model. Joy currently stars as Jasmine Trussell in Parenthood-Early life:...

) leave the club and encounter some kids dancing. Two of the kids are introduced as Benny (Lil' Romeo), and his little brother Raymond (Zachary Williams
Zachary Isaiah Williams
Zachary Isaiah Williams is an African-American child actor who co-starred in the Nickelodeon series Romeo!. Prior to working with Romeo in the series, he co-starred with him and Jessica Alba in the 2003 film Honey. His other television credits include Becker, Roswell, For Your Love and The Parkers...

) who also plays his little brother in the Nickelodeon (TV Channel)
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...

 show Romeo!
Romeo!
Romeo! is an American/Canadian television series that aired on Nickelodeon from 2003 to 2006, totaling 53 episodes. The filming was done in Vancouver, British Columbia, while the show takes place in Seattle, Washington....

 Honey invites both to attend her classes at the community center, and they become inspiration for some of her moves as a Dancer. Honey soon catches the attention of Music Director Michael Ellis (David Moscow
David Moscow
David Raphael Moscow is an American actor. His first major role was as the young Josh Baskin in the 1988 film Big, in which his character was magically transformed into an adult played by Tom Hanks.-Early life:...

), who gives her a job as a back up dancer in Jadakiss
Jadakiss
Jason Phillips , better known as Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. Jadakiss is one of the three owners of the imprint known as D-Block. In early 2007, Jadakiss signed to Roc-a-Fella Records / Def Jam Records.-Early life:By the age of 16, Jadakiss was a freestyle...

' new video. Unimpressed with his current choreographer, Ellis decides to let Honey choreograph the video. Suitably impressed, Honey gets promoted, and choreographs for Tweet, Sheek Louch
Sheek Louch
Sean Divine Jacobs, better known as Sheek Louch , is an African American rapper and member of The LOX , along with Styles P and Jadakiss.-Personal life and career:...

, and Shawn Desman
Shawn Desman
Shawn Bosco Fernandes better known by his stage name Shawn Desman, is a Canadian pop/R&B singer of Portuguese descent. He is signed to Universal Music Canada.-Career:...

.

Having hit the big time in the music business, Honey reluctantly dates Hairdresser Chaz (Mekhi Phifer
Mekhi Phifer
Mekhi Thira Phifer is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his multi-year role as Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama ER and his co-starring role opposite Eminem in the feature film 8 Mile...

), and faces problems at the community centre. The building is old and falling apart, and Honey's mother runs the centre but is unsure if she will be able to maintain it. Deciding to do something about it, Honey finds an old store up for sale and decides to turn it into a dance studio for the local kids. Pressuring Honey to take up teaching Ballet classes, her parents refuse to help with the new dance studio. Honey gets a bank loan, and puts down a deposit. Meanwhile, Honey pitches an idea to Ellis for Ginuwine
Ginuwine
Elgin Baylor Lumpkin , better known by his stage name Ginuwine is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Signed to Epic Records since the mid-1990s, Ginuwine had released a number of multi-platinum and platinum-selling albums and singles, becoming one of R&B's top artists during the late 1990's...

's new video, using the kids she teaches at the centre as the back up dancers, Ginuwine acting like an urban Pied Piper. Gina's 25th birthday comes up, and Honey makes plans to take her to Atlantic City, but Ellis convinces her to make an appearance at a black and White party instead, where he subsequently makes a drunken pass at her. She refuses his advances, slaps him on the face and Michael begins to have a major outburst at Honey and she leaves the party. Honey and the kids as background dancers dance for Ginuwine's new video but Michael is not impressed and hires Katrina to be in Ginuwine's new video and he fires her from Ginuwine's video, black balls her in the business, and installs Katrina in her place. Her friendship with Gina, although strained, improves, and she helps Honey realise she can still make her dreams come true.

Honey struggles to pay the down payment on the studio, and eventually comes up with an idea to raise revenue. She holds a dance benefit, using an abandoned church that will be torn down for the event. Honey spends time getting to know Raymond and Benny, and is shocked to see Benny going down the wrong track. She visits him in prison. She is determined to help him but he refuses and insults her. Honey informs Benny that his mother knows and he will be getting bailed out and Honey tries to to tell him how she feels of him being in jail and says It breaks my heart seeing you selling yourself short like this, but he tells her to go. Honey asks Benny how many times do his mates come and see him and he is visibly saddened by her question realising none of his friends visit him at all and leaves him to think about it. In the benefits has a new video for Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...

 to choreograph, and she is unimpressed with Katrina's ideas. She insists on Honey Daniels, and Ellis goes crawling back to her, begging her to work for him. He offers to buy her the studio. She refuses, saying she does not need his money, and she will do it on her own.

Gina is given a flier for the benefit, and takes it to the bank manager, who calls some donors to appear at the benefit. On the night, it is a full house, and Honey's parents, Benny's disapproving mother and Chaz among many others attend. While everyone is getting dressed and preparing for the performance.In the dressing room, Benny tells Honey that everything will be OK. Benny's mother is duly impressed with her son, and sees the future he has as a choreographer.The audience claps for everyone who danced. Honey embraces her new boyfriend Chaz and Benny and everybody else including her parents. R'n'B singer Tweet
Tweet (singer)
Tweet is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.-Early years:The youngest child of Tom and Shirley Keys, Tweet was born in Rochester, New York on January 21, 1972, and grew up singing in the church along with her parents and her four older siblings...

 also attends, and gets on stage with Honey to celebrate her victory. Missy Elliott arrives at the benefit around the time it finishes, cursing her driver, saying she will have him fired if he's the reason she can't meet Honey. The credits roll, and feature Honey's successful music video for Blaque
Blaque
Blaque is an American Urban-R&B group that had a string of hits in the late 90’s. The group's name stands for Believing, Life, Achieving, Quest, Unity, Everything. Their debut album sold more than 1.5 million copies and was certified Platinum...

.

Cast

  • Jessica Alba
    Jessica Alba
    Jessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...

     as Honey Daniels
  • Lil' Romeo
    Romeo Miller
    Percy Romeo Miller, Jr. , better known by his stage name Romeo , is an American rapper, actor, basketball player, entrepreneur, and model. He is the son of rapper and entrepreneur Master P and former rapper Sonya C. He is the nephew of rappers C-Murder and Silkk the Shocker and the brother of...

     as Benny
  • Mekhi Phifer
    Mekhi Phifer
    Mekhi Thira Phifer is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his multi-year role as Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama ER and his co-starring role opposite Eminem in the feature film 8 Mile...

     as Chaz
  • David Moscow
    David Moscow
    David Raphael Moscow is an American actor. His first major role was as the young Josh Baskin in the 1988 film Big, in which his character was magically transformed into an adult played by Tom Hanks.-Early life:...

     as Michael Ellis
  • Zachary Isaiah Williams
    Zachary Isaiah Williams
    Zachary Isaiah Williams is an African-American child actor who co-starred in the Nickelodeon series Romeo!. Prior to working with Romeo in the series, he co-starred with him and Jessica Alba in the 2003 film Honey. His other television credits include Becker, Roswell, For Your Love and The Parkers...

     as Raymond
  • Joy Bryant
    Joy Bryant
    Joy Bryant is an American actress and former fashion model. Joy currently stars as Jasmine Trussell in Parenthood-Early life:...

     as Gina
  • Missy Elliott
    Missy Elliott
    Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...

     as Herself
  • Laurie Ann Gibson
    Laurie Ann Gibson
    Laurie N. Jibsen is a creative director, VMA-winning choreographer, and Emmy-nominated director best known for her work with Lady Gaga, Diddy and Keri Hilson. She rose to public prominence as the star of MTV's Making the Band and P. Diddy and Mark Burnett’s Starmaker series...

     as Katrina
  • Ginuwine
    Ginuwine
    Elgin Baylor Lumpkin , better known by his stage name Ginuwine is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Signed to Epic Records since the mid-1990s, Ginuwine had released a number of multi-platinum and platinum-selling albums and singles, becoming one of R&B's top artists during the late 1990's...

     as Himself


A number of popular hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 and R&B musicians make cameos in the film, including producer Rodney Jerkins
Rodney Jerkins
Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. Jerkins received two Grammy nominations in 2011.-Biography:...

, Jadakiss
Jadakiss
Jason Phillips , better known as Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. Jadakiss is one of the three owners of the imprint known as D-Block. In early 2007, Jadakiss signed to Roc-a-Fella Records / Def Jam Records.-Early life:By the age of 16, Jadakiss was a freestyle...

 and Sheek Louch
Sheek Louch
Sean Divine Jacobs, better known as Sheek Louch , is an African American rapper and member of The LOX , along with Styles P and Jadakiss.-Personal life and career:...

 of D-Block
D-block
The d-block is the portion of the periodic table that contains the element groups 3-12. These groups correspond to the filling of the atomic d-orbital subshell, with electron configurations ranging from s2d1 to s2d10...

, Tweet
Tweet (singer)
Tweet is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.-Early years:The youngest child of Tom and Shirley Keys, Tweet was born in Rochester, New York on January 21, 1972, and grew up singing in the church along with her parents and her four older siblings...

, and Ginuwine
Ginuwine
Elgin Baylor Lumpkin , better known by his stage name Ginuwine is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Signed to Epic Records since the mid-1990s, Ginuwine had released a number of multi-platinum and platinum-selling albums and singles, becoming one of R&B's top artists during the late 1990's...

. Canadian R&B artist Shawn Desman
Shawn Desman
Shawn Bosco Fernandes better known by his stage name Shawn Desman, is a Canadian pop/R&B singer of Portuguese descent. He is signed to Universal Music Canada.-Career:...

 was also featured.
Singer/actress Aaliyah
Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton , who performed under the mononym Aaliyah , was an American R&B recording artist, actress and model. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 10, she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside...

 was originally cast as Honey Daniels, before her death in August 2001.

Production

The movie is inspired by the life of choreographer Laurieann Gibson, she also appears in the film as Katrina, and worked as the films choreographer.
RnB singer Aaliyah
Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton , who performed under the mononym Aaliyah , was an American R&B recording artist, actress and model. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 10, she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside...

 was originally cast as Honey, though the role was later recast to Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba
Jessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...

 due to Aaliyah's death.

Critical response

Honey was released to mostly negative reviews.
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

 gives film a score of 20% of based on reviews from 112 critics, with an average rating of 4.1 out of 10. The critical consensus was "An attractive Jessica Alba and energetic dance numbers provide some lift to this corny and formulaic movie".
Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

 gives the film as score of 36% based on 30 reviews.

A. O. Scott
A. O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott, known as A. O. Scott , is an American journalist and critic. He is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.-Background and education:...

 of the New York Times gives 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.

Box office

The film opened at #2 at the U.S. box office raking in $12,856,040 USD in its first opening weekend, behind The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai is a 2003 American epic drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay based on a story by John Logan. The film was inspired by a project developed by writer and director Vincent Ward, who had previously filmed the movie in 1990, starring...

. The film made $30,308,417 in the U.S. and Canada and $31,919,978 in foreign countries, to a total of $62,228,395 worldwide.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack containing Hip Hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

, R&B, Funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

 and Disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

  music was released on November 11, 2003 by Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....

.
It peaked at #105 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 and #47 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...

.

Sequel

A sequel starring Katerina Graham
Katerina Graham
Katerina Alexandre "Kat" Graham is an American actress, singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and model. She has appeared in numerous television shows and film productions, as well as music videos...

 and Randy Wayne
Randy Wayne
Randy Wayne is an American actor.Wayne was born and raised in Moore, Oklahoma. He appeared on the 2002 season of the British reality show Shipwrecked, which led to guest appearances on the television shows The Closer, Huff, NCIS, Jack & Bobby, and Numb3rs as well as a series regular role as the...

was released on 01 Aug, 2011.
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