Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

American Honey Blu-ray Movie Review

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.

American Honey Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

American Honey is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Liongate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. That "old style" Academy aspect ratio may be the first thing that draws the interest of videophiles, but the IMDb discloses that this is a "hybrid" offering of sorts, combining both digital capture with good, old fashioned celluloid. The result is surprisingly homogeneous looking, with no overtly huge differences in image quality. Arnold exploits a kind of verité ambience (something that old style aspect ratio may help to subliminally evoke), and she offers a lot of handheld moments which, if not "jiggly cam" to the extreme we've been exposed to at times, still tend to make sequences seem soft, if only because the frame is cut loose from any moorings and the imagery dots and weaves. With stationary cameras and especially with regard to some of the natural elements Arnold chooses to focus on, sharpness, clarity and fine detail are often excellent. Speaking of focus, Arnold and/or DP Robbie Ryan can be a little loose with focus pulling at times, often preferring backgrounds to remain sharp while foreground objects are on the blurry side, something else that tends to contribute to a soft feeling presentation at times. While the palette hasn't been aggressively color graded, there are slight shadings at times, including some deep blues (see screenshot 19) and what I'd almost terms as an olive ambience (see screenshot 4). While the film is lengthy, this BD-50 disc doesn't really have much in the way of supplements to take up valuable real estate, and there aren't any problematic compression issues of any note.

American Honey Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

American Honey's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix erupts with some considerable force when any of a number of source cues are utilized (a couple of which can probably be accused of being too "on the nose" in terms of the action they accompany). Immersion is also achieved courtesy of the many outdoor scenes with attendant ambient environmental effects, often when Star and Jake are out trying to sell some magazines. There's a certain "Hawksian" approach toward dialogue here, with a kind of relaxed, simultaneous unfolding of several people speaking at the same time, and as such prioritization can be occasionally challenging, at least that is if you're trying to hear what one person in particular is saying. Otherwise, though, especially in quieter dialogue scenes involving Star and Jake, things are rendered very cleanly and precisely, with no problems whatsoever.

American Honey Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Sasha Lane and Riley Keough on American Honey (1080p; 6:20) offers brief interviews with the actresses.

American Honey Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.