American Honey (2016) [Blu-ray]
Drama
An astonishing portrait of youth on the American fringe, American Honey is told through the eyes of a vivacious teenage rebel who joins a group of fellow misfits hustling and partying their way across the country. Bursting with electric, primal
energy, American Honey is an immersive, exhilarating odyssey of heartbreaking beauty - a generation-defining film that celebrates the defiant resilience of youth in pursuit of the American Dream.
Storyline: Star, a teenage girl with nothing to lose, joins a traveling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits.
Written by Anonymous
Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, December 26, 2016 Have you ever been accosted and/or seduced (in a consumerist way, that is) by someone at your front door "offering" to sell you magazine subscriptions? Case in
point: my wife and I were doing some yard work in our front yard last summer when a kind of weirdly jolly looking young African American man came traipsing down my street calling out (and I swear I'm not making this up), "I'm black but I don't attack." It
was a rather interesting "sales pitch", one that immediately caught my wife's ear, leading her (against my curmudgeonly wishes) to engage the fellow in conversation. By the time he had finished with what sounded like a pretty harrowing life story,
including the recent shooting death of his brother in Chicago, there was a clear result: $189 in magazine subscriptions my wife purchased from the gentleman, despite my "suggestion" that these rags could easily be subscribed to online for probably $20,
tops. That said, I really couldn't argue with the salesman's approach or, indeed, his tale of rising above circumstance to try to make something of himself (I had no doubt that the stories of his troubled background he was telling us were the absolute
truth, but maybe I was hornswoggled by his pitch as much as my wife was, just not to the point I was willing to fork over my hard earned cash to him). There was still a bit of a multi-level marketing aspect to some of what he told us about how his
particular subscription company worked, since he wanted to sell enough to become a "supervisor", allowing him to mentor a whole flock of similarly enthusiastic magazine hawkers. American Honey may not have any rhyming African Americans in its
coterie of magazine salespeople, and indeed its ambience might uncharitably be called "white trash" in terms of both the salesforce and at least some of the potential customers, but it's an admittedly odd and occasionally touching story of a young woman
named Star (Sasha Lane) who, much like the salesman my wife and I met, is trying to overcome debilitating circumstances to make something of her life. It's notable that the film, despite an almost three hour running time (one which probably easily could
have been halved to no real narrative detriment), may not provide any ultimate answers as to what, if anything, Star does end up making of herself.
The first view of Star is in fact her dumpster diving with a couple of adorable tots, in an apparent attempt to find food for them. It's a disturbing opening scene on at least a subliminal level, since there are a host of unanswered questions lurking in
the background. Are these Star's kids? What has brought her to this sorry state of affairs? If the first question is answered (they're not her kids), the second, perhaps more salient, query is never fully documented in Andrea Arnold's screenplay
(Arnold also directed), even if several clues are alluded to. By the time Star meets cute with Jake (Shia LaBeouf), one way or the other it's clear the girl has more than enough motivation to accept Jake's kind of oddly instantaneous invitation to join
him as part of a roving crew of magazine salespeople. A couple of vignettes deal with Star's relationships with the children seen in the opening scene, as well as a couple of other supporting characters, before the bulk of the film then segues to the
actual aggregation of pitchmen (and women).
It's a patently bizarre group of kids who have banded together, perhaps because they have no one else to depend on. Right off the bat a high energy dude named Corey (McCaul Lombardi) walks right up to Star and tells her he should be the first to have sex
with her (!), proceeding to pull down his pants to afford Star a view of what she might have in store (the film has a couple of "full frontal" scenes, for those who are squeamish about such matters). Also on hand is the Star Wars obsessed Pagan
(Arielle Holmes), as well as the kind of curt Krystal (Riley Keough), the putative boss of this ragtag assembly, despite the fact that she, too, is barely out of her teens. Whether intentionally or otherwise, Keough is rather reminiscent of Kristen
Stewart in this film, which may reinforce what is already a kind of subliminal link to On the Road , another film detailing the exploits of young folks "finding themselves" through a vignette laden journey.
Much like the kids themselves, American Honey seems to just drift from event to event, with the only real narrative through line a kind of simmering sexual tension between Star and Jake, one that plays out against the subtext of a pre-existing
relationship between Jake and Krystal. This is a film constructed out of apparently small "character beats", but one which ultimately manages to deliver some cogent emotionalism, albeit within what is arguably a way too long and drawn out overall
storyline. Drifting is fine, mind you, but it tends to resonate most strongly in a film when there's an actual destination that's arrived at, and Arnold seems content to merely document the journey without getting to any real conclusion, despite a
final image which suggests a rebirth of sorts for Star.
Despite the film's narrative looseness and overlength, there's a lot about American Honey to admire, including an absolutely first rate performance by Lane, who is deservedly being seen as one of the breakout stars (no pun intended) of 2016.
Commendably, LaBeouf is also very good as Jake, actually managing to craft a character rather than just another "performance art" opportunity. Arnold is very strong on mood and ambience if not narrative momentum, and the film offers a palpable environment
of young people forging their own community, for better and/or worse.
Many years ago when I reviewed a relatively little remembered film called Winter's Bone, I lauded a newcomer named Jennifer Lawrence as a probable Oscar nominee for this role (which she turned out to be), as well as a potential "major new star."
I'm tempted to prognosticate similarly with regard to Sasha Lane, though I'm not sure this film will resonate with some Academy voters the same way it has with artier crowds at Cannes, where it, like several previous Andrea Arnold efforts, won the Prix du
Jury. (I hope the film's marketing gurus and/or the Academy don't "demote" Lane to Supporting Actress status in order to hopefully guarantee a nomination, for American Honey is undoubtedly Lane's film from beginning to end in what is inarguably a
lead performance.) While American Honey itself is too long by at least an hour, its languid pace actually helps to point out the aimlessness of some of these young lives, and the film has a desperate lived in quality that's quite unique. But Lane
is the main reason to invest the time required to view this film, and it's perfectly appropriate that she's playing a character named Star. Technical merits are strong, and with caveats noted, American Honey comes Recommended.
[CSW] -1.6- Having already been exposed to all of the facets of the different life styles, situations, economic prosperity and poverty I kept waiting for something more than just a reminder of each of them. Instead that is only what was portrayed and in a
pointless way. With that said this reviewer summed it up as least as good as I could: Here's the thing... Stories should have a beginning, middle, and an end... someone here forgot about the end and just made the middle really, really long,
until they ran out of tape. Those involved in making this film are asking viewers to invest in nearly 3 hours of time to watch this. However, it is completely a disservice that THERE IS NO CLIMAX, NO CONCLUSION, and NO REAL ENDING after nearly 3 hours.
While I was generally interested in the film, and thought it conveyed this "class" of lifestyle well... (hate LeBeouf, but he was tolerable because well his character is how I imagine his actual personality being), the fact that the film just kind of
stops was just short of infuriating. This is especially true because the last 30-45-60 minutes contained at least 3 or 4 spots where a climax, then a solid ending COULD have followed... but nope… it just kept going... and going... until it just fades out.
This, to me, was a clear cut case of someone not knowing how to end a story or edit a film properly. It's not a bad film... if it had some sort of actual conclusion... otherwise... meh... be warned... this just stops... it doesn't conclude. And given
that... you're free to stop watching the DVD whenever you want. You aren't going to really miss anything which may follow. In short, you'll have as much an understanding of where "Star's" life is going in the first 20 minutes which leaves you with 2 hours
and 20 minutes more of literally NOTHING. Nothing gets resolves at all. ---- MEH ---
[V4.0-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box
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