The entertainment industry is probably one of the biggest fields to get into. At least from a natural progression. There are those who have a meteoric rise to stardom but this has only recently come about with the advent of social media. Prior to this, a lot of this was based on reputation, branding and perhaps internal sacrifices. How this was done wasn’t spoken of very much because it either was considered not important, confidential or it was actually something more. Again, more recently it has come out that some people were pressured into doing certain things no one would repeat. Unfortunately, this is what many people have believed what this particular work place has turned into. It also gets a little hard to believe just how successful some performers become without this coming to mind. However, when someone does make it big and sticking to their gut and morals, those are the best stories to hear.
This movie focuses on this kind of story, following the heroine of Honey Daniels (Jessica Alba). She is a up and coming dance choreographer looking to take her career to the next level. Every day she strolls into the hall her mother (Lonette McKee) rents out in a dilapidated building. People show up and enjoy their time together while practicing their next show. Although everybody looks out for each other, the streets can still be dangerous, which is why Daniels is friends with Chaz (Mekhi Phifer) and Gina (Joy Bryant), who knows how to keep trouble at bay. The script was written Alonzo Brown and Kim Watson in their only theatrical credit. They do have experience in other projects but much of it belongs to music videos, which make sense. The same could be said for the director.
Heading this project was Bille Woodruff, a director who has worked with the likes of Toni Braxton, Céline Dion and the Backstreet Boys. The reason why he was chosen for this is quite obvious due to his music video experience. From a story experience, it is a mixed bag. The execution is fine, but the writing itself is very been there, done that. As mentioned before, hitting it big most of the time in the entertainment business means sacrifices have to be made to move up; some of which are inappropriate. This is where Michael Ellis (David Moscow) comes in. Ellis happens to catch Daniels doing her work and becomes her mentor. He’s the guy with the access to everything upwards but of course he’ll push for what he wants too. It’s as cliché as it gets but also probably what many have to come to expect.
The acting from the cast is fine. Jessica Alba although not acting much now and is still very successful, does fine here. This would be the movie that put her on the road to starring in Sin City (2005) and the Fantastic Four (2005). Mekhi Phifer and Joy Bryant both play good supporting roles to that of Honey Daniels. Lonette McKee as Honey Daniels’ mother is good too. KcKee was in films like The Cotton Club (1984), Jungle Fever (1991), Malcolm X (1992) and Men of Honor (2000). Lastly David Moscow was good as the guy with connections although his role was fairly straight forward. The strongest feature to this movie should be at the least its choreography. Thanks to Laurieann Gibson, that was achieved. Although she had some credits prior to this, Gibson would move on up to other celebs like Madonna and Lady Gaga.
Assisting in that visual contribution was John R. Leonetti who was already well established for his skills. Having worked on films like Child’s Play 3 (1991), The Mask (1994), and The Scorpion King (2002), it is fair to say he was ready to take on the music genre too. Leonetti’s camerawork blends seamlessly with the dance moves and makes it feel very much like an extended music video. Which is no surprise as the film score to this feature is not really there. Apparently Mervyn Warren, who also composed for Steel (1997) and A Walk to Remember (2002) wrote music for this too. Although that’s a little difficult to say where because much of it is taken up by the music played for the dancing that happens throughout the entire film. It’s probably there but likely no one will be trying to find where it plays.
The layers to the story and music are quite thin and uninspired. The story itself though is understandable, the actors are good in their performance and the dance choreography combined with the camerawork entertain on the level that it was intended for.
Points Earned --> 7:10
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