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HONEY GLAZE
Produced, Written, and Directed by Michael Legge
Edited by Darryl Dexter
Director of Photography - Merton ChesneyHoney Glaze - Lorna Nogueira
Dash Hope - Robin Gabrielli
Nurse Tarika - Cherry Lynn Zinger
Dr. Sum Thaim - Michael LeggeThe number of people making micro-budget comedies is a short one. Other than HONEY GLAZE director Michael Legge, only Blankscreen's Jay Bauman comes to mind. Where Bauman subscribes to a bawdy sense of humor, Legge's is much more innocent and pure, almost virginal. Even in this attempt at a sixties-style spy adventure staring a leather-clad hottie, Legge foregoes post-Austin Powers vulgarity, or even mild innuendo for that matter, in favor of good-natured, clean fun.
Honey Glaze is a troubled youth. As a child her mother was killed by enemy agents. Fearing for his daughter's safty, Honey's super-spy father Dan shields his little girl from the outside world, and the cost is the poor child's sanity as Honey never grows beyond the mental capacity of a 10 year old. After her father is slain before her naive eyes, the strange woman-child Honey must mentally catch up with her shapely figure in the race for adulthood if she ever want to catch her father's killer.
The man responsible for Dan's death is Dr. Sum Thaim (rhymes with....er...rhyme), a name typical of Legge's sense of pun-laden humor. He's after a microchip that Honey's father was hiding. Thaim's ninja goons didn't think to ask Dan where he hid the chip before they killed him and now Thaim's running out of...er...time...before Honey recovers from the trauma and opens a psychologically prepubescent can of wup ass.
Hoping to pull Honey from her mentally deprived state is special agent Dash Hope, who's not quite the pessimist his name might suggest. Like all special agents, Dash is all chin and courage, but he's not prepared to handle the monster he's about to unleash.
Armed with her teddy bear, toy robot, plastic slinky, and hair clips, Honey Glaze sets out to save the world, or die trying.
Sounds mindblowingly surreal, doesn't it? Welcome to the world of Michael Legge. The man is equal parts Salvador Dali and Groucho Marx. To read more about the man and how impressive his comedic talents are, please check the reviews for his films STUMPED, CURTAINS, BRAINDRAINER, and THE NIGHT BASEMENT. I'm running out of help from the thesaurus and I'm not sure how many times I can keep repeating myself on how great his work is. Hopefully, after you take a loot at those reviews you'll be inclined to head over the Sub Rosa website and try one of them for yourself.
With the exception of the horror effort STUMPED, all Legge's movies have the same vibe, HONEY GLAZE included, and it's hard to describe. Think of your favorite Kids in the Hall episode only minus the naughty bits. Legge's movies are the kind of underground efforts I wouldn't mind showing my kids. The movies are goofy enough that I'm sure the kids will enjoy, but they're also smart enough to keep the adults entertained.
I feel like I'm reviewing a Disney movie.
Hopefully, you will have the pleasure of seeing HONEY GLAZE in the near future. It's set for release towards the latter half of 2003. With the pure insanity that's Sub Rosa's dvd schedule, this is one I hope won't get delayed.