American Honey
4/4
Starring: Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough
Rated R for Strong Sexual Content, Graphic Nudity, Language Throughout, Drug/Alcohol Abuse-All Involving Teens
There is a voyeuristic quality to "American Honey" that gives the film its charge. For most of the running time I didn't feel like I was watching a film. I felt like I was there. Nothing extraordinary happens during this film, but that doesn't lessen the impact. In fact, that's why the film has such power.
Star (Lane) is an ordinary young woman living in Oklahoma. She is in an unhappy relationship and stuck watching her friend's kids. One day at Walmart she sees a way out. A group of young men and women are partying through the store and one of them catches her eye. His name is Jake (LaBeouf), and he impulsively asks her if she wants a job. She declines, but he insists that she meet him and his crew the next morning. Star reconsiders, escapes from her deadbeat boyfriend and returns her friends kids. Soon Jake's boss, the tough-as-nails Krystal (Keough) hires her, and she's off.
The late great film critic Gene Siskel was fond of saying that he enjoyed movies that took him into another life. Although he died a quarter-century before this film was released, I imagine he would have enjoyed this film on that level. There isn't a lot of plot to this film because it isn't about plot. This is about the life of a girl whose job is drive across the country selling magazines door to door. "American Honey" is a movie about a lifestyle. These kids are on a bus ride to nowhere; they do what they can to earn a few bucks, and then they move on. When they get on or off is irrelevant; the bus keeps going.
I learned on iMDb that this movie was heavily improvised. That doesn't surprise me. The words, the affectations, the behaviors...they're too real to be scripted and rehearsed. There is an energy with this kind of guerilla filmmaking that can't be produced any other way. Normally I don't enjoy movies that are filmed without a script, but writer/director Andrea Arnold is creating a world here. No one is searching for the next line because it doesn't matter what they say next. These characters exist in the moment.
Although Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough have a certain amount of fame and are established actors, they excise their star power and simply become the characters they play. Jake is charisma personified. He can intuitively read people and tell them what they want to hear. Whether it's a customer or a girl he is attracted to, Jake gets what he wants. But he has a darker side that makes him a liability. Riley Keough is even better in the smaller, yet crucial, role of Krystal. She has the hoosier accent and attitude down pat. She is the boss and is intelligent, but she lacks the maturity and civility to lead a team. Her character is loathsome, but her performance is uncanny. In a perfect world, she would have gotten an Oscar nomination.
LaBeouf and Keough are good, but the film is stolen from them by newcomer Sasha Lane. Lane wasn't an actress before she appeared in this film. But she is a natural performer and the camera loves her. She has the presence of a true movie star. Star is smart but has a fiery personality and a penchant for taking risks. Her feelings for Jake may make her employment uncertain (and Krystal has no problem leaving someone on the side of the road when they don't pull their weight).
A movie like "American Honey" is hard to describe in words. It's not about plot or characters but about a way of living. This is how these people survive day to day, and Arnold shows us the good and the bad. This kind of storytelling is unusual, and I imagine that many people will get bored. But if you approach it with the right mindset, you'll see it how I did: as a great American movie.
Starring: Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough
Rated R for Strong Sexual Content, Graphic Nudity, Language Throughout, Drug/Alcohol Abuse-All Involving Teens
There is a voyeuristic quality to "American Honey" that gives the film its charge. For most of the running time I didn't feel like I was watching a film. I felt like I was there. Nothing extraordinary happens during this film, but that doesn't lessen the impact. In fact, that's why the film has such power.
Star (Lane) is an ordinary young woman living in Oklahoma. She is in an unhappy relationship and stuck watching her friend's kids. One day at Walmart she sees a way out. A group of young men and women are partying through the store and one of them catches her eye. His name is Jake (LaBeouf), and he impulsively asks her if she wants a job. She declines, but he insists that she meet him and his crew the next morning. Star reconsiders, escapes from her deadbeat boyfriend and returns her friends kids. Soon Jake's boss, the tough-as-nails Krystal (Keough) hires her, and she's off.
The late great film critic Gene Siskel was fond of saying that he enjoyed movies that took him into another life. Although he died a quarter-century before this film was released, I imagine he would have enjoyed this film on that level. There isn't a lot of plot to this film because it isn't about plot. This is about the life of a girl whose job is drive across the country selling magazines door to door. "American Honey" is a movie about a lifestyle. These kids are on a bus ride to nowhere; they do what they can to earn a few bucks, and then they move on. When they get on or off is irrelevant; the bus keeps going.
I learned on iMDb that this movie was heavily improvised. That doesn't surprise me. The words, the affectations, the behaviors...they're too real to be scripted and rehearsed. There is an energy with this kind of guerilla filmmaking that can't be produced any other way. Normally I don't enjoy movies that are filmed without a script, but writer/director Andrea Arnold is creating a world here. No one is searching for the next line because it doesn't matter what they say next. These characters exist in the moment.
Although Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough have a certain amount of fame and are established actors, they excise their star power and simply become the characters they play. Jake is charisma personified. He can intuitively read people and tell them what they want to hear. Whether it's a customer or a girl he is attracted to, Jake gets what he wants. But he has a darker side that makes him a liability. Riley Keough is even better in the smaller, yet crucial, role of Krystal. She has the hoosier accent and attitude down pat. She is the boss and is intelligent, but she lacks the maturity and civility to lead a team. Her character is loathsome, but her performance is uncanny. In a perfect world, she would have gotten an Oscar nomination.
LaBeouf and Keough are good, but the film is stolen from them by newcomer Sasha Lane. Lane wasn't an actress before she appeared in this film. But she is a natural performer and the camera loves her. She has the presence of a true movie star. Star is smart but has a fiery personality and a penchant for taking risks. Her feelings for Jake may make her employment uncertain (and Krystal has no problem leaving someone on the side of the road when they don't pull their weight).
A movie like "American Honey" is hard to describe in words. It's not about plot or characters but about a way of living. This is how these people survive day to day, and Arnold shows us the good and the bad. This kind of storytelling is unusual, and I imagine that many people will get bored. But if you approach it with the right mindset, you'll see it how I did: as a great American movie.
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