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7

jrodfilmsOct 19, 2016

It doesn't quite rank up there with Kids or Dazed and Confused, but it shares a similar tone between those two. Although sometimes it sucks because the characters are so dumb and the plot somewhat unbelievable, but just enough to keep theIt doesn't quite rank up there with Kids or Dazed and Confused, but it shares a similar tone between those two. Although sometimes it sucks because the characters are so dumb and the plot somewhat unbelievable, but just enough to keep the story going from place to place. I thought the movie went fast for being 2.5 hours long.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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7

TVJerryOct 20, 2016

You may have had young people come to your door selling magazines. This film follows a group of them as they travel around the country in a van, listening to hip hop, shooting the **** drinking and smoking. Their free-spirit attitude isYou may have had young people come to your door selling magazines. This film follows a group of them as they travel around the country in a van, listening to hip hop, shooting the **** drinking and smoking. Their free-spirit attitude is captured with compelling charisma by this group of mostly "street cast" youth. Sasha Lane (also a non-actor) plays a young woman who runs away from her extremely dysfunctional family to join them. Her journey is not much about the magazines; more about her own stubborn, spunky attitude and the relationship she establishes with the lead seller (Shai LeBeouf). While this film rambles (2.5 hours), there's an undeniably captivating allure to the cast and a winningly free-spirited approach in the filmmaking… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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5

LooTheLouMar 17, 2017

The movie starts out strong and keeps going at a good pace for the first hour and a half. But after the first part, the movie gets repetitive, and outright boring. The last hour of the movie, I was constantly thinking: When is it going toThe movie starts out strong and keeps going at a good pace for the first hour and a half. But after the first part, the movie gets repetitive, and outright boring. The last hour of the movie, I was constantly thinking: When is it going to end?! I would NOT recommend you to see this movie in the theaters. There are better movies to go to.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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9

Benkoko11Feb 23, 2017

Driven by the fierce Sasha Lane, dazzling American Honey functions as a meditiation on the freedoms, anxieties, and spontaneous self-actualizations of youth as well as a sprawling tour of the middle American condition.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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6

metacritic1000Oct 27, 2016

The beginning introduces us to Star's (Sasha Lane) dysfunctional family, and is intense and impactful. Once Star joins the tribe of teens, you think tragedy is going to happen at every turn as she makes risky choices. Unfortunately, the onlyThe beginning introduces us to Star's (Sasha Lane) dysfunctional family, and is intense and impactful. Once Star joins the tribe of teens, you think tragedy is going to happen at every turn as she makes risky choices. Unfortunately, the only tragedy is that this movie is way too long.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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10

The3AcademySinsOct 13, 2016

This might be the most profound movie I have seen all year. Andrea Arnold perfectly captures the mythology of The American Dream in this layered, multi-faceted, hypnotic, fluid, dreamlike masterpiece. The cinematography and color palette forThis might be the most profound movie I have seen all year. Andrea Arnold perfectly captures the mythology of The American Dream in this layered, multi-faceted, hypnotic, fluid, dreamlike masterpiece. The cinematography and color palette for the film are top notch. Sasha Lane and Shia LaBeouf's performances are out of this world. This movie is at the same time a sprawling epic and a low energy road trip movie. I've honestly seen nothing like it. The closest thing I can compare this to is "The Deer Hunter" but American Honey is something else entirely. In a word, it is transcendent. I had read that at this year's Cannes Festival, when American Honey did not win, the crowd stood up and booed. I can see why. Oscar contender for sure.… Expand

3 of 5 users found this helpful32

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10

JuttybombOct 1, 2016

Andrea Arnold found truthful and beautiful characters in real people, and allowed us to share in an actual road trip of moments in their life. The aspect ratio of the film gives a personalized experience. The soundtrack inspired me toAndrea Arnold found truthful and beautiful characters in real people, and allowed us to share in an actual road trip of moments in their life. The aspect ratio of the film gives a personalized experience. The soundtrack inspired me to literally dance in the theatre throughout the movie. Sasha and Shia show some real chemistry, and when Mazzy Star drops while their in the car, it literally gave my entire body chills. This movie made me feel something while watching it, and the feeling has stayed with me for hours. To me the experience of watching this film is comparable to the moment when you are dancing, and you completely let yourself go, and allow yourself to get lost in the moment. It's a moment when nothing else matters. A car ride with the friends you love, while singing a song that resonates with everyone in the car. Go see this film, you won't be disappointed. Hats off to the director, cast and crew.… Expand

4 of 8 users found this helpful44

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6

ScarlettMiNov 23, 2016

American Honey is the perfect example of a movie that earns a mixed rating from me. There's a lot of originality and energy and life to the movie. There are interesting performances and some great cinematography. The fact that the story feelsAmerican Honey is the perfect example of a movie that earns a mixed rating from me. There's a lot of originality and energy and life to the movie. There are interesting performances and some great cinematography. The fact that the story feels messy and unfocused isn't even necessarily a bad thing, as that works for the characters in the film.

It's just so damned long. There's not enough story here to justify almost three hours spent in the company of characters making poor life choices and doing little else. It dragged along slowly and had me wondering how much longer it could go on the way it was.

I can absolutely understand why it earned a 10 from some people. I can absolutely understand why someone would rate it lower. This is a movie that I can appreciate the quality of while not being entertained by. It has an original voice and Andrea Arnold is a director that I will make a point to watch more from in the future. It just didn't fully work for me.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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0

ScraperDec 1, 2017

Brutally dull render of an American adventure flick that seems to think that the stoned, teenage, mall crowd is holding a profound secret. Like The Beach before it, they seek the simple pleasures in life: sex, freedom, and insobriety. EachBrutally dull render of an American adventure flick that seems to think that the stoned, teenage, mall crowd is holding a profound secret. Like The Beach before it, they seek the simple pleasures in life: sex, freedom, and insobriety. Each character is some jackass you've seen before, hanging out, smoking a blunt, saying something stupid, except for Shia Labeouf. He's a special kind of grime. Someone meant to be seen as an attractive free-spirit who instead comes off as filthy, smarmy, and disingenuous. A nauseating combination. In real life I imagine Shia sees this character as his actual kindred spirit, his ora. He isn't grown up enough, or perhaps is too insulated by his own fame and inexperience, to tell that stoned, drunken, extroverted, know-it-alls are one of society's most repellant products.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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8

JalemanyFeb 22, 2018

Loved this modern road trip around the also real US. Its excesses might be virtues and the source of its uniqueness.

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7

SpangleMay 4, 2017

A hypnotic tone poem that explores the lost children of capitalism, seeking to make ends meet by any means necessary, American Honey is a Southern-set film that soaks up the essence of Antebellum life as well as the brutal poverty andA hypnotic tone poem that explores the lost children of capitalism, seeking to make ends meet by any means necessary, American Honey is a Southern-set film that soaks up the essence of Antebellum life as well as the brutal poverty and isolation that goes hand-in-hand with life for many in the South and America. Telling the story of a group of lost souls that party, drink, smoke, and **** as they try and sell magazines throughout the midwest, American Honey brings kids together from all over the South and shows the division that exists in America between the rich and the poor. Wrapping you around its finger via its excellent soundtrack, unique camera work, and its essence as a film, American Honey is a harsh and truly exhausting film to watch for nearly three hours, but is an excellent slice of Americana and the underbelly of the nation from Brit Andrea Arnold.

The real highlight of this film is undoubtedly its music. Pulling from a wide range of inspirations from country to Bruce Springsteen to metal and especially to hip-hop, American Honey is a celebration of every corner of America. Though most of the characters hail from the south or midwest - Texas, South Dakota, Maryland, Florida, etc. - there are some from other states such as New Jersey and California. With its characters and music genres pulling from across the continental United States and reflecting popular music from various races and income levels, the film may largely focus on poverty and whites, but strives to encapsulate the American experience and influence that has on everyone who lives in the country. With gorgeous shots of the sun setting on the horizon or lens flares where the sun seems to blot out the whole image, Arnold captures the beauty of America wherever she goes. Beautifully maintained upper class homes, rugged oil fields, and open desert, are all given their due and show just how diverse the country in appearance, but one thing remains constant: how beautiful the land is no matter where you go. Through her camera finding this beauty and the diverse soundtrack, Arnold always sets the mood just right to be able to soak in this beauty and celebrate the nation's diversity wherever the group of kids travels.

In exploring this diversity though, the film really explores the divide between poor and rich that exists in America and also shows where they are the same. From pampered villages in rich sections of Kansas City to the poor backwoods of Rapid City, the film never shies away from showing the divide. For the former, the worst thing that happens is a daughter and her friends dancing provocatively to rap music in the backyard. For the latter, the mother is too drugged to even notice what her kids are doing. This divide between poor and rich is also shown by the traveling band of magazine sellers who freak out at the big buildings in Kansas City. For them, they have never seen anything like this with little-to-no big cities in the towns where they live. Yet, what is always common is how everybody is out for themselves and pitying those beneath them. People with Christian bumper stickers blow them off, oil workers pay for sex from the girls, and rich Texans try to exploit innocent girls by getting them liquored up. Nobody has their hands clean and that is, unfortunately, what really brings everybody together: selfishness. This selfishness is often derived out of pity where some people either respond to the feeling by offering a helping hand and buying the magazines. Or, they seek to just exploit the people and take advantage of their position as "superior". Yet, it is in the former that the film really finds its kind central heart. With characters such as lead Star (Sasha Lane), buying food for an impoverished family or taking care of kids that are not her's, the film shows what is possible when somebody feels not just pity, but empathy and offers a helping hand to those who are worse off than themselves.

Using unique camera work to capture everything, Arnold's occasionally hand-held camera in the van is really the highlight of this film. With music playing loudly in the back and constant extreme close-ups jumping from character-to-character, the film often feels like a home video. Casual, unfocused, and meandering, in this tone, American Honey seems to just be capturing events partaken in by real people at an actual point in time in American history. It is this unstructured approach that really makes the film feel its length and be mentally exhausting with very few plot threads that exist in this film to really weave it all together. The only thing left is the thematic considerations and beautiful camera work and, as a result, the film is one that really relies upon its tone to capture the imagination of the audience and provide the audience with the mental stimulation they require. In this endeavor, its hypnotic approach to filmmaking is mostly successful.… Expand

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7

LeZeeJan 14, 2017

To redefine the life and to discover the love.

From the British director of 'Fish Tank' fame, this is another a young struggling girl's story. Being brought up in a low income and abusive family, and because of that trying to redefine theTo redefine the life and to discover the love.

From the British director of 'Fish Tank' fame, this is another a young struggling girl's story. Being brought up in a low income and abusive family, and because of that trying to redefine the life. Not about heading the wrong way like drugs and other related stuffs. So this is the story of an older teen girl named Star who flees the home to find her new life and love. It all begins when she meets a youngster in a supermarket and since then she followed him everywhere. Actually the film focused to tell a gang of youth who are door to door magazine subscription dealers. They travel all over the country and have all kinds of enjoyment.

In order to stay in the group, Star has to prove her worth. She reserves her spot, but working on her own way. I always feared the narration might go to take a nasty twist. There came a couple scenes near to that, but compromised not to change the mood of the storytelling. Because it seems the writer was interested to reveal a girl try to achieve two goals. After coming to know one of it was staged, how she contemplates the other one crafted carefully. Not to forget, her fate, the future depends on it, since she's not well qualified to go out in the world to do whatever she wants.

So I think it was a decent film with a decent message. If you know the director, you would know what her films talk about. Unlike 'Fish Tank', this is about an American girl. The influence of lifestyle, culture, almost everything related to youngsters covered. The lead actress was good. It was not Shia Labeouf's film, but in a supporting role, he did his best. There are a few others I knew, but they did not get big part. The only issue with it was the length. If you are okay with it, especially for a slow drama, then the film is enjoyable. 'American Honey' is like 'American Money', one of the ways people try to make their 'American Dream' come to true. This film is exclusively for drama genre fans.

7/10… Expand

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9

zedzdedDec 25, 2019

this was an incredible movie. this movie is really not my type of movie (i love sci-fi mostly) but the acting, the direction, the camerawork, the editing the colours and the overall emotion were really impressive. oh and the soundtrack wasthis was an incredible movie. this movie is really not my type of movie (i love sci-fi mostly) but the acting, the direction, the camerawork, the editing the colours and the overall emotion were really impressive. oh and the soundtrack was a great fit too. highly recommend.… Expand

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8

moviemitch96Oct 14, 2016

An often times beautiful and ambitious film! This is definitely a thorough and detailed look at teenagers in search of the American dream. And what better way to chase that dream than to travel across the American Midwest, which is exactlyAn often times beautiful and ambitious film! This is definitely a thorough and detailed look at teenagers in search of the American dream. And what better way to chase that dream than to travel across the American Midwest, which is exactly what's done in this film! Everything comes together quite well for the most part. In terms of acting, newcomer Sasha Lane gives quite a memorable and honest performance. And though I normally can't stand Shia LaBeouf, he actually surprised me with one of his better performances in recent memory in this film. Another one of the main things I loved about this film were some of the shots of the cities and roads throughout as the characters are travelling. Like I said before, the film was often times all too beautiful and the biggest standout in terms of this was the cinematography and many memorable shots of places that the characters visit and pass by throughout the film. It honestly on several occasions made me want to travel and explore America the same way these characters did in the film! Overall, while it does only have a couple things going against it (such as its near three-hour runtime that I gradually began to feel and notice more and more as the film progressed as well as its open-ended conclusion that I found to be a bit rushed,) this was still a truly ambitious marvel of a film that managed to keep me along for the ride for the vast majority of it!… Expand

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8

MattBrady99Oct 27, 2017

"You know what Darth Vader looks like beneath that mask? He's a skeleton. Just like the rest of us".

'American Honey' is a beautiful made film that takes the audience on an non-stop road trip. Despite the runtime which I had an issue with"You know what Darth Vader looks like beneath that mask? He's a skeleton. Just like the rest of us".

'American Honey' is a beautiful made film that takes the audience on an non-stop road trip. Despite the runtime which I had an issue with some scenes, but didn't ruin the overall experience. The soundtrack itself was a show stealer.

Andrea Arnold, a foreigner, enters the American dream and the modern youth. With this movie however, I think it's gonna be hard for her to top this one. The sense of freedom and naturalism, making it almost documentary-like. Andrea is another director I'm keeping my eye on for her next project.

Shia LaBeouf delivers one of his best performance I've seen from him; Transformers? Never heard of it. An impressive film debut from Sasha Lane, which surprised me this is her first movie. She's going places, I can tell you that.

Looking back at 2016, you start to see a lot of great original cinema you may overlooked at the time. This is one of them.… Expand

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6

BITESCREENJun 21, 2017

Zugedröhnte Ausreißer auf einem Selbstfindungs-Roadtrip quer durch die Vereinigten Staaten: Die Prämisse von American Honey ist eine Mischung aus Kids und Into the Wild. Andrea Arnolds überlanger Coming-of-Age-Film ist dabei zwar genausoZugedröhnte Ausreißer auf einem Selbstfindungs-Roadtrip quer durch die Vereinigten Staaten: Die Prämisse von American Honey ist eine Mischung aus Kids und Into the Wild. Andrea Arnolds überlanger Coming-of-Age-Film ist dabei zwar genauso authentisch wie Larry Clarks Jugendporträt, misst jedoch die philosophisch-existenzielle Tiefe von Sean Penns Aussteiger-Meisterwerk. In American Honey schaut man wirklich nur eher uninteressanten Kids beim Partymachen zu, während wunderschöne Bilder und ein treibender Soundtrack immerhin einen gewissen cineastischen Rausch erzeugen. Wirklich stark ist American Honey aber nur beim Fokus auf die turbulente Beziehung der beiden Hauptfiguren. Wenn die kesse Star (etwas nervig: Sasha Lane) und der undurchsichtige Jake (richtig gut: Shia LaBeouf) sich raufen, lieben oder völlig ignorieren, ist American Honey so rastlos-verträumt, wie er eigentlich die ganzen 163 Filmminuten sein sollte.… Expand

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1

MercejoeMay 30, 2019

The worst road movie i´ve ever seen.almost 3 hours of nothing... nice colours, a lot of hand recording that makes it look like a mockumentary ( which in this case its cool and looks great in the movie) but besides that the constant sensationThe worst road movie i´ve ever seen.almost 3 hours of nothing... nice colours, a lot of hand recording that makes it look like a mockumentary ( which in this case its cool and looks great in the movie) but besides that the constant sensation of "something really bad its going to happen" but nothing happens at all its very dissapointing.… Expand

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8

carlossolracNov 14, 2018

I spent a summer going D2D selling coupons. That was in 1999 and in southern New Hampshire but somehow felt so close to the scenes of them walking through the 'burbs of KC. Andrea Arnold is the best. My favorite writer and director. See RedI spent a summer going D2D selling coupons. That was in 1999 and in southern New Hampshire but somehow felt so close to the scenes of them walking through the 'burbs of KC. Andrea Arnold is the best. My favorite writer and director. See Red Room and Fish Tank. Her soundtracks are the craic.… Expand

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9

MahmusSep 25, 2020

A masterfully made movie with great performances and great pacing, especially for such a long film.

Sasha Lane and Shia LaBeouf are amazing. It got a bit repetitive after a while, but never to the point where I wasn't completely interestedA masterfully made movie with great performances and great pacing, especially for such a long film.

Sasha Lane and Shia LaBeouf are amazing.

It got a bit repetitive after a while, but never to the point where I wasn't completely interested in what was happening.

This was really damn good… Expand

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5

DawdlingPoetNov 28, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This film didn't really appeal to me personally. It's a bit...meandering and I can't say I felt strongly about the main characters really. Star (the main character, a teen girl) seems a nice enough person behind the bravado I suppose but I can't say I felt especially gripped to see what happened next to her. There are some nice landscape shots and it does ok at showing things from the girls point of view but I suppose I was hoping for more of a stronger plotline. I also found it a bit hard to follow some of the dialogue at times, as it was a bit muffled. I can sort of see what the filmmakers were trying to do and I thought I'd watch it as it has a decent average rate on IMDB but I don't think I'm someone particularly keen on these somewhat aimless coming of age road trip type films. Shia LaBeouf gave quite a good performance and I suppose it did seem fairly genuine with the slightly wobbly camerawork somehow adding to the authenticity. It features quite a few songs - contemporary hip hop and R&B mostly. It's a gritty watch and its fairly depressing in tone but it's ok. I'm not sure I can say much more. I suppose the camerawork may be seen as a bit disorientating at times but then I suppose that's what the filmmakers were going for, in a way.
I wouldn't particularly recommend it as such, no.… Expand

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6

MegaCarlosSMFeb 9, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. In general, the movie has a great story, but I need more... the finish make me feel like the movie is not finished. I understand that She felt free and she finally became part of the team, but what else??? is that all??… Expand

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10

zech147Aug 7, 2020

Wow! This movie is way more entertaining than you would expect from a low energy road film, but between the cinematography, acting, and plot it blew me away. The realness of the acting allowed me to vicariously join the cast on an epic roadWow! This movie is way more entertaining than you would expect from a low energy road film, but between the cinematography, acting, and plot it blew me away. The realness of the acting allowed me to vicariously join the cast on an epic road trip that was both over the top and completely realistic! On top of that, a great soundtrack pulls you in and leaves you hoping it will never end. When it does draw to a close you will have bonded with the characters and may find yourself wishing them well, until you remember it was only a film. I don't know why this movie wasn't more widely acclaimed, but I do recommend it to anyone who will listen.… Expand

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