Director: Andrea Arnold
Writer: Andrea Arnold (Screenplay)
Starring: Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough, McCaul Lombardi, Arielle Holmes, Crystal Ice, Veronica Ezell
Plot: 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.
Tagline – Wild and astonishing! An indelible epic of the open road!
Runtime: 2 Hours 43 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Realistic Look at American Struggles
Story: American Honey starts as teenager Star (Lane) is wandering around the streets with her younger siblings, she sees the mysterious Jake (LaBeouf) around and learns that he is involved in a traveling magazine, offering Star a way to get out off the empty life. Star takes the chance joining the traveling team with Krystal (Keough) running the operations, Star needs to learn on the job with the other teenagers and young adults from around America.
As Star learns about the people she is working with, she learns about the reality of life, by partying too hard and learning just what love can be.
Thoughts on American Honey
Characters – Star is a teenage girl that hasn’t got much of a future, she comes from an abusive family, where she tries to raise her younger siblings, she sees her chance to experience the world and must learn quickly or face a future that doesn’t see her achieving anything with her life, we see the whole story through her eyes. Jake is the one that brings Star into the world, he makes it seem like it will be easy and that the people involved can have fun along the way, he does seem to take advantage of Star along the way too, playing into the naïve nature of the her. Krystal is the woman that is running the whole magazine selling process, she will demand they people make sales no matter what happens and if they don’t meet the requirements, she will just leave them on the side of the road.
Performances – Sasha Lane is wonderful in the leading role of the film, she shows all the naivety needed to make us understand her character and how the journey is making her break out of her shell. Shia LaBeouf is great to see as the man that can manipulate the girls he picks up. Riley Keough is great as the stricter leader of the group making us believe just how strict she is.
Story – The story here follows a teenage girl that runs away to join a traveling magazine group of fellow teenagers and young adults, here she must learn about life quickly, to see how difficult like can be for many people from around the country. This story shows just how difficult life can be for the younger generation when they are faced without a future that could offer them any stability, we focus on just one girl that is stuck facing this future and wondering if this life is what she is looking for or not, as she sees just how people can use people to get what they want from each walk of life. This should be an eye opening to the world and one story that is an important look at a future people will be facing.
Romance – The romance Star gets involved in, is shown on how she sees them, she often thinks more is happening that there is, which gives her a lesson in love.
Settings – The film keeps us on the road, Star gets to see the better off homes and the ones that reflect the world she has come from.
Scene of the Movie – Star visits a home like her own.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It is longer than it needs to be.
Final Thoughts – This is a wonderful look at how difficult life in America has become, it shows us through the eyes of a teenage girl that is facing a life she couldn’t get much out of.
Overall: Important and Eye Opening.
