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On the surface, Honey looks like another Flashdance knockoff — you know, sassy girl from the hard side of the tracks has big ambitions as a dancer, goes through the show-biz wringer, and ultimately prevails. But here the title character has much more than blond (streaked) ambition on her mind. TV darling Jessica Alba (Dark Angel) takes her big-screen turn as Honey Daniels, a hip-hop dance instructor at an inner-city community center. Sporting better-than-Britney moves, she quickly lands the kind of gigs every MTV-raised tweener dreams about. But fame isn’t all that sweet for Honey: she’s still drawn to the troubled kids from her class, and even more so when the center gets condemned. Drugs and a scumbag producer (David Moscow in a thankless, cutout role) complete the feel-good, fairy-tale formula. The direction by Bille Woodruff is erratic yet well-intentioned, and Honey’s wide-eyed idealism makes for a devilish contrast with her bump ’n’ grind maneuvers. Lil’ Romeo and the magnetic Mekhi Phifer round out the cast; rap queen Missy Elliott is uproarious in an all too brief cameo. (104 minutes)
BY TOM MEEK
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