American Honey

The film slowly, slowly blossoms into an emotional wildflower by the end, leaving us with a scene that is kind of spontaneous road baptism, an unsure note of spiritual birth.

It’s visually astonishing and often devastating, too. This might be the freshest film about young people in America since Larry Clark’s Kids.

If you think LaBeouf is a joke, you need to see him here. There’s wildness there, but acting centers him. He’s magnetizing.

An easy-going gem that is at times funny, at times heartbreaking, at times scary -- but always, unfailingly engaging.

Ironically, the film itself is as gentle and unexploitative as they come. Yes, it deserves the rating, and yes, it depicts teenagers doing things the grown-ups would rather not admit they actually do, but it does so with a poetic curiosity and a sense of what it’s like to be young, poor, and rootless — both future-less and free.

It's a bold film, full of energy and spunk, but a patchy, half-formed, rambling one too.

The characters are despicable and insufferable, but worse yet, interchangeable and not particularly interesting.

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 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.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

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 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.

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 sensation of "something really bad its going to happen" but nothing happens at all its very dissapointing.

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. 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.