Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
36
(31 sources)
36
(31 sources)
-
70
The New York Times
Honey brings out the wholesome, affirmative side of the hip-hop aesthetic without being overly preachy, and it offers a winningly utopian view of show-business success without real costs or compromises. Read Full Review » -
63
Chicago Sun-Times
Honey doesn't have a shred of originality (except for the high-energy choreography), but there's something fundamentally reassuring about a movie that respects ancient formulas; it's like a landmark preservation program. Read Full Review » -
60
-
60
The Hollywood Reporter
A decidedly upbeat number, centered on a good-hearted character. Read Full Review » -
50
Boston Globe
Neither hot nor square, it's as simple and earnest as any after-school special and as cameo-laden as any rap video. Read Full Review » -
50
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
First-time director Billie Woodruff, a music video veteran, busts his moves in the dance scenes while the movie throbs to the beat of the wall-to-wall soundtrack. Read Full Review » -
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The last thing I want is this: Yet another instance of black culture diluting itself by imitating a white model. Hell, Honey is hip-hop by way of Andy Hardy. Read Full Review » -
50
New York Daily News
A by-the-numbers, let's-put-on-a-show quasi-musical that has absolutely nothing going for it, except Alba. Read Full Review » -
50
Los Angeles Times
If you're in the mood for a hip-hop film with more happy faces than "The Partridge Family," Honey will divert you. Read Full Review » -
50
Philadelphia Inquirer
By no means is this a good movie, but it's warmed by the solar energy of its star, who surely deserves better than this formula empowerment flick. Read Full Review » -
50
Entertainment Weekly
Despite some sizzle with love interest Mekhi Phifer, the alluring Alba ends up a desexualized mouthpiece. Read Full Review » -
50
Chicago Tribune
Has the shelf life of a dented milk carton. Pop-culture movies in general age rapidly due to ever-changing slang and fashions. Read Full Review » -
50
Charlotte Observer
The story's sweet, however stale, and many performers have energy. But screenwriters Alonzo Brown and Kim Watson drain the reality out of it. Read Full Review » -
40
Dallas Observer
Certainly it exists solely to sell a soundtrack; the movie, like most made for teens, is well beside the point. Read Full Review » -
40
TV Guide
Alba, constantly sporting off-the-shoulder tops a la "Flashdance," brings no depth of feeling to her character, and her average -- often wooden -- moves make it hard to believe she's a uniquely talented hoofer and sought-after choreographer. Read Full Review » -
40
Variety
With less than five minutes of screen time but with more humor and sassy attitude than the remaining cast combined, Missy Elliott separates hip-hop royalty from riff raff in the otherwise lackluster Honey. Read Full Review » -
40
Salon.com
There's an entertainingly ludicrous movie lurking somewhere inside of the ludicrous, mediocre one this actually is. Read Full Review » -
40
-
40
Empire
With its hackneyed storyline and critical derision in the US, whispers were that Honey was to be the new "Glitter." It's not nearly that bad, which is a shame since it just skims the embarrassingly blind enthusiasm of which camp classics are made -- instead bouncing along the path of bland and forgettable. Read Full Review » -
38
-
38
Miami Herald
The dancing, while reasonably entertaining, isn't anything you haven't seen before on MTV or BET, although the soundtrack might be a worthwhile investment for hip-hop fans. Read Full Review » -
38
USA Today
Hip-hoppish Honey is in the harmlessly junky "let's put on a show" tradition of "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo," minus electricity but with a budget for supporting-cast navel rings that 1984's break-dance sequel certainly didn't have. Read Full Review » -
30
Washington Post
Honey's a little too darling for reality but, obviously, that's not what this candy-cane vehicle of a movie is all about. It's about the way Alba moves and how good she looks when she's backlighted and smiling. Read Full Review » -
30
Washington Post
Honey's a little too darling for reality but, obviously, that's not what this candy-cane vehicle of a movie is all about. It's about the way Alba moves and how good she looks when she's backlighted and smiling. Read Full Review » -
30
LA Weekly
Hinges almost completely on the taut body and delectable beauty of Jessica Alba, but is otherwise so riddled with limp clichés that it doesn't even qualify as a guilty pleasure. Read Full Review » -
30
-
30
Village Voice
If you doubt whether Honey can scrape together the dough, this is probably the movie for you. Read Full Review » -
25
San Francisco Chronicle
There's no point complaining that Honey is a tired reworking of an old formula, because it's intended for a young audience that doesn't know the formula. Read Full Review » -
25
Baltimore Sun
It's relentlessly dumb and relentlessly humorous, and those aren't the adverbs it was after. Read Full Review » -
25
New York Post
Lacks even a trace of imagination. Its by-the-numbers plot is depressingly familiar, and each line of dialogue is so predictable that the script... could have been generated by a computer. Read Full Review » -
20
Austin Chronicle
Amid the endless stream of catch-a-rising-star movie clichés that Honey screenwriters Alonzo Brown and Kim Watson throw up and out are a few new ones, notably "skinny girls always win out in the end" and "hootchie bad, faux hootchie good." Read Full Review »
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