Honeyglue (2015) User Reviews

Defying gender & genre stereotypes through self expression

[sinnerofcinema · 7/10 · 7 June 2015]

James Bird's "Honeyglue" is an effective experimental narrative film that interwoven animation with live storytelling. Androgyny reigns as gender roles are flipped and reversed to make a statement on style and personal expression.

An unlikely romance blooms when Jordan (Zach Villa), a purse snatching cross dresser artist, meets Morgan (Adriana Mather) a conservative middle class girl, under unusual circumstances.

Base on the vast differences of both characters, initial perception predicts that this ill conceived relationship is doomed from the get go. Yet, during the many trials and tribulation both Morgan and Jordan suffer in their own worlds, they manage to keep the "glue" alive and well whenever they met until life throws a curve-ball that will ultimately, and in an untimely manner, turn this love story into a contemporary Romeo & Juliet with many twists in between.

In what can be best described as an Annie Lennox kind of wedding, in a very unorthodox way, the couple exchange nuptials with alternative descriptions of their relationship as the ceremony and events succeeding the ceremony trumps traditional vows.

This is a very ambitious film that seeks to mix many unrelated themes and stories, and to the fortune of the film, director James Birds succeed at making it all work.

The Main actors deliver solid performances in between a series of superlatively artful animation sequences with screen live action visuals to be credited courtesy of cinematographer Stefan Colson.

A nice surreal romantic flick

[cekadah · 6/10 · 27 November 2016]

Honeyglue is worth watching due to it's being an unusual story told in a surreal romantic style. I found Jordan, Morgan and her family to be so idealized they are totally unbelievable as real characters. But, as a whole they work together wonderfully to create a touching and somewhat melodramatic story.

The surreal parts are Jordan himself and his rooftop colorful tent home, the doctor tied up and how it is presented to the viewer, Morgan's (who is stricken with cancer) high energy and just the adventure Jordan and Morgan pursue to experience life before she clocks out.

I found this movie mostly interesting but I would never watch it again because it's a one time story and once you see it it's done. The over melodramatic ending is a bit of a turnoff because it's so over acted and borders on humorous.

Amazing touching story and great acting!

[ferchy · 10/10 · 28 April 2015]

Amazing film! It takes you to every emotion possible and the message is great! Congratulations for the cast and director. This is a great time to share this topic and have more people truly believe in LOVE. I can't say much as I wish everyone can see this film but the way the story is told truly helps us understand the characters, their emotional roller-coaster and how love grows with them. You want to help them reach their goal and become really involve on the story. The wardrobe is playful and a different way to present a new film with such of deep storyline. It helps balance what is happening in the movie. Make up nailed it and you can see as the story gets to the end how the changes were made perfectly. I am sure if was a very challenging for the hair and make-up team to achieve pick up shoots and shooting timeline with extreme changes or styles. The cast was perfect for this story. I am very impressed to this this quality on a new production company.

One of the WORST MOVIES I've ever seen

[LadyAnnaMedusa · 1/10 · 22 September 2020]

While I thoroughly appreciate the attempt of a love story that includes LGBTQ characters, narratives and gender nonconforming aspects, this movie does NOT do it justice. The wooden acting, the terrible writing, the cliched genres are desperate at best and exceedingly cringe-y at worst, and is entirely too much to cram into one poorly executed film that is absolutely riddled with plot holes. I am a fan of Zach Villa but honestly his charm came across stilted and wasn't present enough to save the movie. I've never heard of Adriana Mather before but after seeing her clunky and one-note performance in this as a yearning-yet-dying teen, it makes me want to avoid her altogether. Her vocal-fry voice is only made more intolerable as the movie goes on with the addition of brain damaged slurred speech, that makes her sound drunk and mentally inept all at the same time. I truly wanted to like this film but could barely get through it. I can somewhat appreciate the attempt of it as a whole, but when presented in such a one dimensional, shoddy and unwieldy manner, kinda negates any respectable approach to unconventional love stories.... Please avoid this film at all costs unless you want to feel like it's 2 hours of your life you will never get back.

James Bird is insanely good...especially since this is only the second time he's even directed a movie!

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 26 October 2015]

I am very glad I saw this film at a local film festival. This is because although I loved the film, listening to the director, James Bird, discussing the movie afterwards really made me appreciate his genius and ability to make a great looking film with a cut-rate budget! For example, he was able to secure the rights to various popular and normally very expensive songs by simply friending people on Facebook and then convincing them to watch the film. They loved what they saw so much that they gave him the music at a tiny fraction of the normal cost...all thanks to his leg work and a bit of nerve! It just proves it never hurts to ask!

"Honeyglue" is a strange and very unconventional romance. Morgan (Adriana Mather) meets a strange gender-bending man at a nightclub. Jordan (Zach Villa) likes to wear dresses and makeup and his sexual orientation is quite confusing at first. While they seem to hit it off in this wild club, Morgan soon leaves him and instructs him not to call her or see her again. Why? Well, Morgan actually is a very conventional girl from a very conventional family and tonight she is taking a walk on the wild side--a walk she never plans on taking again. However, Jordan is smitten and after stealing Morgan's wallet, he seeks her out and is surprised to see she is so 'normal' and comes from suburbia. When Morgan's brother and parents see Jordan, they are naturally shocked--he's sporting a kilt, full make- up and a woman's hairdo! And, although Morgan is at first upset to see him, she relents and invites him into the home.

Soon after Jordan comes into this house, he is shocked once again. No, not at how conventional the family is but when she tells him why she didn't want to see him. It's because she has brain cancer and there's a good chance she is going to die...and she doesn't want Jordan or anyone to fall in love with her. However, Jordan is very insistent and he tells Morgan that even if they only have a little bit of time together, it's worth the risk. Unfortunately, however, Jordan and her family soon get word from the doctors that she is not responding to chemotherapy and that they must prepare for her to die....sooner as opposed to later. The doctors give her about three months to live and during the later stages, she'll become very, very ill. Because she is on borrowed time, she and Jordan decide to do something very crazy--although they only just met, they'll get married and enjoy the heck out of this time they have. And, being a very unconventional guy, both he and Jordan wear wedding gowns at their impromptu wedding. Her parents aren't exactly thrilled by this, but they understand Jordan's decision and wish her and Jordan the best.

So why did I like this film so much? Well, the characters are really exciting to watch and the actors did great jobs as well. Jordan is such a strange, gender-bending sort of guy. He also has a larcenous side as well...but a decency buried beneath. As for Jordan, you marvel as Adriana Mather becomes thinner and more and more frail through the course of the film and you can only assume she starved herself and had great make-up to convey her character. Plus, both characters really went all out and were willing to shave their heads for the parts! The rest of the cast also were just terrific, particularly Morgan's family (Christopher Heyerdahl, Jessica Tuck and Bamboo Stewart). This is a brave film that isn't afraid of emotion or showing the family struggling to deal with death.

The part of the film that actually impressed me the most wasn't the great story or the wonderful acting but the odd cinematography you see throughout the movie. Fortunately, the director explained how he did some of these amazing scenes. In one scene, Jordan and Morgan are next to each other and the camera alternates between focusing on one and then the other in the same shot. Technically, this looks impossible and James Bird said that he got the idea for doing this split diopter after talking about it with Quentin Tarantino. The cameraman tried to make the shot but couldn't and ultimately Bird did...by accidentally breaking the lens and thus enabling this complicated shot! Additionally, the film features a mix of normal digital footage along with portions done in with an old 8mm camera which was done as a homage to his deceased co-worker who recently bought such a camera. There are also several shots where the camera pans completely around the actors many times...and you can't see any evidence of the camera operator or that it's not a completely natural shot. The film is truly innovative and looks tremendous. It's amazing to think that this film is only the second time Bird has directed.

Before you look for this film, I think I should add a small warning. It's not surprising that this film is quite sad and would best be seen with some handy Kleenex. However, don't be surprised if the movie churns up a lot of issues for you, as it sure me pretty hard as I couldn't help but think about my own bout with cancer as well as a debilitating illness currently being experienced by a loved one. This film surely could be tough to watch for some viewers. But for the willing, the film is exquisitely made, wonderfully written and oddly life-affirming as well. One of the clear shining stars at the festival, the applause as well as tears from the audience were strong and heartfelt.

Poorly written. Timeline and story lines don't make sense.

[Maggielovesmovies01 · 1/10 · 5 April 2020]

I watched this film because Adriana Mather is one of my favorites authors. My main problem with the movie (besides it being a stale cliche of a very obvious political narrative) was that it never explains how, why, when, or where from they kidnap the doctor. It jumps from her being moderately close to death, to her literally looking like she's got one foot in the grave without really any explanation of what happened in between, even though it all supposedly only took place in a span of less than 3 months, probably closer to just a few weeks though because the movie in its entirety takes place over 3 months, which includes multiple hospital stays, an operation (maybe? There's no real explanation to the random large incision that's on the back of her head.), a trip to Texas, a return trip from Texas, and her sending the antagonist away for an unknown length of time before he returns and she actually agrees to see him. The timeline is awful. The whole storyline about them kidnapping the doctor doesn't fit in with the rest of the story in any logical way, and the whole "Romeo and Juliet" ending they tried to portray got lost in the confusion of trying to figure out where this doctor came from, how she got so bad and when it all happened. The dragonfly and bee story is hard to follow because I really didn't find the characters relatable to any of the characters in the actual story, even though the story of the bee and dragonfly closely resembled their own story. Overall just a very poorly written story that left me with so many questions.

Amazing Film.

[MichaelShepherd · 10/10 · 30 June 2015]

Amazing Film. I had the honor of being Key Makeup Artist w/ Laura Calvo and I can honestly say it was such a pleasure to work on such an amazing project surrounded by amazing film makers. I cannot wait for the next one. James, Anya, and Adriana are amazing and intelligence film makers who are going to be around for a very long time. The Acting from Zach & Adriana was stunning, even after being on set and seeing the scenes film and pre reading the script, watching the film all put together gets me ever time. Honeyglue is filled with laughter, tears, and real world problems that are put in a very real prospective for the audience to connect to.

Beautiful Story!!!

[bivetq · 10/10 · 3 April 2019]

I absolutely loved this movie. It broke my heart but I loved every second of it! It's so different and completely beautiful! Must watch!

An unusual romance, a lovely story

[janinemike · 10/10 · 7 June 2021]

I greatly enjoyed the movie and cried like an idiot. It misses the mark on a few things (some odd cinematography choices for example) but the over all attempt is beautiful. If you like quirky romances, you'll love it.

A visual expression of a love poem.

[patrickflorio · 9/10 · 6 February 2018]

I hate definitions and those that are not defined have a hard time. Being yourself is probably the hardest thing to do. I like avoiding the obvious and I think James Bird avoids it elegantly keeping the story line true. It is not easy to talk about dying without religion. I enjoyed the lightness of the narration, the taking hold of their life and making it memorable. I do believe it fundamental to making it memorable in the little things in order to make it worth its real value for any person. I think we should talk more about people without the temptation to judge them especially those that are true to themselves. I have seen in the movie a collective effort and it does manage to avoid stereotypes. No fancy production but a perfect use of the essentials for movie making. Keep it up guys!!!

Pretty decent movie

[RoyMince · 9/10 · 28 September 2023]

The unusual love story always hits a little different if you've experienced it at least once in your life. There were certain parts of this film that made me think of that special someone which made this film that much better. Overall, the Director did a really good job with the vision with an addition of a good cast and solid editing I would give it an eight on the originality mean in a 10 for making a tap in to the feels. This is a film that I would recommend watching at least once to see how this movie affects you, but overall it was a pretty good job, and I would recommend it to fans of romance.