Overlong and repetitious with its story, American Honey could’ve used a pass or two in the editing bay at which point it would’ve made for an interesting character, and country study, instead is more on the dull side by the two hour mark (if not sooner).
American Honey
(2016)
Genre(s): Drama
Lionsgate | R – 162 min. – $24.99 | December 27, 2016
Date Published: 12/25/2016 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 2.5/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Star (SASHA LANE), an adolescent girl from a troubled home, runs away with a traveling sales crew that drives across the American Midwest selling subscriptions door-to-door. Finding her feet in this gang of teenagers, one of whom is Jake (SHIA LABEOUF), she soon gets into the group’s lifestyle of hard-partying nights, law-bending days and young love. Quick Hit Review: Overly long clocking in 162-minutes (with credits), this wasn’t a terrible slog to sit through compared with others I’ve watched recently, and in spite of some strong performances by Sasha Lane, Riley Keough and, especially, a charming Shia LaBeouf who I’d say might be deserving of a supporting actor Oscar nomination, this is a film that could’ve used an extra session or two in the editing bay. American Honey was written and directed by Andrea Arnold (Oscar winner for the short film, Wasp), marking her follow-up to Wuthering Heights 5 years ago, seems to poising herself to be the next Terrence Malick with an ability to present beautiful imagery no matter the landscape — such as here with the American Midwest — and yet give us an overlong and tedious story. I’m not much of a fan of Malick and from my experience thus far with Arnold, I’m not sure I can enjoy her work, yet she does show promise so who knows. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.0/5 |
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This release comes with a matted slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Sasha Lane & Riley Keough on American Honey (6:20; HD) is basic, EPK-like, featurette with interviews, from their pressers, with the two actresses on their respective characters. Previews – Moonlight, 20th Century Women |
VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| American Honey is, for a modern feature film, unusually presented with a 1.33 full frame aspect ratio as well as the usual 1080p high-definition transfer. This was done by the director’s choice, perhaps to get a more intimate experience (?) for viewers. Whatever the reason, the picture still looks good with sharp detail and colors appear to be natural looking throughout. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| The included 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is standard but effective. The vast bulk of the movie is dialogue driven so the majority of the audio outputs through the center speaker with the music and some ambient noises making usage of front and rear channels. |
OVERALL – 2.25/5 |
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Overlong and repetitious with its story, American Honey could’ve used a pass or two in the editing bay at which point it would’ve made for an interesting character, and country study, instead is more on the dull side by the two hour mark (if not sooner). The Blu-ray released through Lionsgate offers up great video, good audio but falters in the features department. |
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.