''Honest'' is a

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to disc ...

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

released in 2000. The film was the directorial debut of ex-

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British Pop music, pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart (musician and producer), Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio alb ...

member Dave Stewart and starred

Peter Facinelli Peter Facinelli (born November 26, 1973) is an American actor and film and television producer. He starred as Donovan "Van" Ray on the Fox series '' Fastlane'' from 2002 to 2003. He played Dr. Carlisle Cullen in the film adaptations of the ''Tw ...

and three members of the British/Canadian

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of wh ...

All Saints: Melanie Blatt and sisters

Nicole Nicole may refer to: People * Nicole (name) * Nicole (American singer) (born 1958), a contestant in season 3 of the American ''The X Factor'' * Nicole (Chilean singer) (born 1977) * Nicole (German singer) (born 1964), winner of the 1982 Eurovi ...

and

Natalie Appleton Natalie Jane Appleton Howlett (born 14 May 1973) is a Canadian singer. She is a member of the British girl group All Saints and the duo Appleton with her younger sister Nicole Appleton. Appleton joined All Saints in 1996, becoming the fourth ...

. ''Honest'' has been called one of the worst films of all time.

Plot

The plot follows the antics of three gun-toting, streetwise, saucy sisters in

Swinging London The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mu ...

in the late 1960s. The film is most notable for the topless scenes by the Appleton sisters. Blatt and the Appletons also contributed to three songs on the film's soundtrack.

Reception

''Honest'' received unfavourable reviews with one critic remarking, "It is the worst kind of rubbish, the kind that makes you angry you have wasted 105 minutes of your life."

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...

noted ''Honest'' "subscribes to the usual credulous fictions about the charm, glamour and wit of violent criminals, and leaves out these qualities in spades" and added "However silly and implausible, it would be all right if there was the slightest hint of brio or fun in the script, written by comedy giants Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. But there isn't". The Scottish '' Daily Record'' went so far as to state that "This turgid tale of Sixties London isn't just bad - it's quite probably the worst film ever""Honest, it's the worst movie ever; All Saints' film debut is holy awful, say critics." ''The Daily Record'', 26 May 2000 and added "And ''Honest'' is being tipped for a slot in Hollywood's hall of shame, ranked alongside duffs like ''

Waterworld ''Waterworld'' is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Char ...

'' and '' The Avengers''". However, the

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

gave it 4 stars and called it a "

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

" à la ''

Amazon Women on the Moon ''Amazon Women on the Moon'' is a 1987 American satirical science fiction film that parodies the experience of watching low-budget films on late-night television. The film, featuring a large ensemble cast including cameo appearances from film and ...

''. The film was screened out of competition at the

2000 Cannes Film Festival The 53rd Cannes Film Festival started on 14 May and ran until 25 May 2000. French film director, screenwriter, and producer Luc Besson was the Jury President. The Palme d'Or went to the Danish film '' Dancer in the Dark'' by Lars von Trier. The ...

. The low budget (£3 million) film flopped in its opening week in the UK, earning only £111,309 on 220 screens. British film historian I.Q. Hunter, discussing the issue of "What is the worst British film ever made?", listed ''Honest'' as one of the candidates for that title.I. Q Hunter, "From Window Cleaner to Potato Man" in ''British Comedy Cinema'', edited by I.Q. Hunter and Laraine Porter. Routledge, 2012. . (p. 154)

Cast

Nicole Appleton Nicole Marie Appleton (born 7 December 1974) is a Canadian singer and television presenter. She is a member of the British girl group All Saints and Canadian duo Appleton with her elder sister Natalie Appleton. Early life Appleton was born i ...

- Gerry Chase *

- Mandy Chase * Melanie Blatt - Jo Chase *

Derek Deadman Derek Deadman (11 March 1940 – 22 November 2014) was an English character actor who appeared in numerous British films and television series for 38 years. Family Born in Fulham, Derek Deadman was one of the three sons of George and Edith Dead ...

- Night Watchman *

Graham Fletcher-Cook Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan G ...

- Market Trader *

Vinny Reed Vinny or Vinnie is a masculine given name, usually a shortened version of Vincent, Vincenzo, or Vicente, which may refer to: Vincents * Vinnie Anderson (born 1979), New Zealand rugby league footballer * Vinny Appice (born 1957), American rock dr ...

- Stills Photographer *

Naima Belkhiati The Honeyz are a British R&B girl group, composed of members Celena Cherry and Mariama Goodman. The group had five UK top 10 hits between 1998 and 2000, with "Finally Found" (1998), " End of the Line" (1998), " Love of a Lifetime" (1999), "Nev ...

- Body Painted Girl *

- Daniel Wheaton *

Rick Warden Richard George Warden is an English actor. Warden studied at Dr Challoner's Grammar School and received a B.A. honours in history at Churchill College, Cambridge, 1994. He married actress Lucy Barker on 1 May 2004. He is probably best known ...

- Baz *

Jonathan Cake Jonathan James Cake (born 31 August 1967) is an English actor who has worked on various TV programmes and films. His notable screen roles include Jack Favell in '' Rebecca'' (1997), Oswald Mosley in '' Mosley'' (1997), Japheth in the NBC telev ...

- Andrew Pryce-Stevens * Willie Ross - Woodbine * Annette Badland - Rose *

Corin Redgrave Corin William Redgrave (16 July 19396 April 2010) was an English actor and left-wing socialist activist. Early life Redgrave was born on 16 July 1939 in Marylebone, London, the only son and middle child of actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kem ...

- Duggie Ord *

Matt Bardock Matthew Arthur Bardock was born in 1969 in Croydon. He is an English actor who is known for playing Jeff Collier in ''Casualty'', DS Clive Barnard in ''A Touch of Frost'', DS Davey Higgins in '' The Coroner'', Albie in '' The Lakes'', Mark Craig ...

- Cedric

References

External links

* * {{Clement and La Frenais 2000 films 2000 black comedy films 2000s crime comedy films 2000s heist films All Saints (group) British black comedy films British crime comedy films British heist films British independent films Films directed by David A. Stewart Films set in the 1960s Films shot in Oxfordshire Films shot in London Films set in London Films with screenplays by Dick Clement Films with screenplays by Ian La Frenais 2000 directorial debut films 2000 comedy films 2000 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films