American Honey (2016)

[baumer]

Discuss

[Blankments]

American Honey is a mesmerizing masterpiece. Each shot seems painstakingly chosen to make maximum impact, full of brimming meaning and striking subtlety. Andrea Arnold directs with a powerful touch, knowing just when to look directly into Star's gaze or look at those Star affects. Her script is smart too, making several complicated characters that are always fascinating to watch, and putting them in situations that are outright unforgettable.

 

Shia LaBeouf has gotten a lot of buzz for his role as Jake, and he lives up to the hype. The performance feels lived-in, world-weary and yet in love with what he's seen in the world. This is Sasha Lane's movie though, and rightfully so. From the first shot, the audience will know exactly who she is and what she's gone through. She's world-weary in an incredibly inexperienced way, but fascinatingly so, and as she progresses through the story and regresses in maturity, we want to feel her dream come true. Lane's subtle expressions or change in body language makes Star an even more fascinating character than she would be on the script page.

 

The editing is phenomenal. The film feels simultaneously like a six-hour-long epic and a short 120-minute coming-of-youth story. Immensely watchable, the film also benefits from some incredible cinematography aided a ideally cramped aspect ratio of 1:1.33. Perfectly utilized, it helps us join Star in her alienation from those around her, but also realize when there's more than enough room for this Star to shine. The soundtrack also deserves a shout-out, with every radio hit picked with precision in meaning and in sound.

 

American Honey is delightful. It revels in putting us right in the film with the protagonist, but never loses sight of both the fun and misfortune of her discovering America's beauty and ugliness for the first time. Arnold writes and directs the film to be an absolute triumph, aided by her stellar crew and cast. American Honey is just an outstanding piece of cinema that should be - no, must be - viewed by anyone who claims to love the art form. A+

[Joel M]

Ehhh, Arnold is def talented and the movie looks great and it isn't boring despite the long runtime BUT. She's just one of those filmakers who I find very faux-poetic and full of symbolism that amounts to very little. The story and the look is there but it just feels kinda fake and detached the way she handles it. This could have been the My Own Private Idaho of our age but it's just "fine". Shia was great though as usual and the young female lead really shines.

 

B. 

[TheMovieman]

Shia was good but outside of that, I wasn't that enthralled and it was entirely too long clocking in at 160-minutures (or so sans credits). I just didn't find it all that captivating and it could've gone through some more editing.

[baumer]

I was mesmerized by Shia and Sasha Lane.  Sasha kind of hypnotized me.  She just has a natural ability to deliver a line, move her body, look pissed, look excited....pretty much everything she did I was enthralled with.  I found the film a little too long but for the most part it was a fascinating film with some truly incredible improvisation.  I think Lane is going on to big things.  She's a definite star.

 

8/10

[baumer]

Your film has done something right when about a week later I'm still thinking of it. I put this in my top 20 of the year. I think I had it tied for 15th spot. But the more I think of it the more I love this film. I think maybe I should have put it in the top 10.

[The Stingray]

37 minutes ago, baumer said:

Your film has done something right when about a week later I'm still thinking of it. I put this in my top 20 of the year. I think I had it tied for 15th spot. But the more I think of it the more I love this film. I think maybe I should have put it in the top 10.

 

Yes, you definitely should have.

[Jake Gittes]

Don't stop until it's in your top 3 Baumer.

[Blankments]

3 hours ago, baumer said:

Your film has done something right when about a week later I'm still thinking of it. I put this in my top 20 of the year. I think I had it tied for 15th spot. But the more I think of it the more I love this film. I think maybe I should have put it in the top 10.

I saw it in theaters in September and I still think about it once every few weeks. It's really phenomenal

[Lizzy]

Saw this last year and loved it then. Sasha Lane is magnetic as Star you can't keep your eyes of her and she gives such a complex yet subtle performance. The film flew by and I agree with the other posters on this thread it really sticks with you. The cast was all good but the three main parts Lane, Keough and LaBeouf seemed to become their characters, just an additional layer of excellence.