American Honey Blu-ray Review

"American Honey" receives a high-quality video presentation on Blu-ray from Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The choice of this older Academy aspect ratio imparts a unique verité ambience, enhancing the film’s immersive, organic feel. Particularly notable is the hybridization of digital capture with traditional celluloid, producing a remarkably consistent image quality that impresses throughout. Director Andrea Arnold’s frequent use of handheld cameras provides a naturalistic, albeit occasionally soft, look to the production, particularly during dynamic sequences. Stationary shots, on the other hand, often deliver exceptional sharpness and detail, especially when natural elements are prominently featured. However, Arnold's and DP Robbie Ryan's focus choices can result in blurred foregrounds against sharp backgrounds, contributing further to the film's intentionally raw and unpolished aesthetic.

In terms of clarity and detail, "American Honey" shines with its evident ability to delineate rich, natural visuals, especially in outdoor scenes which are rendered with excellence. The Blu-ray’s depth is commendable, creating a tangible sense of dimensionality that embraces both active foreground and background elements. Black levels are proficiently managed, appearing deep and inky with no noticeable crush, even in darker scenes. Color reproduction stands out with vivid blues, greens, and yellows that enhance the film's naturalistic palette without overshadowing the authentic tone intended by the filmmakers. Flesh tones are rendered accurately across various close-ups, revealing intricate facial textures in high detail. Throughout its lengthy runtime, the transfer remains consistently clean with no problematic compression issues or visual artifacts detracting from the viewing experience.

Overall, "American Honey" on Blu-ray provides videophiles with a satisfying balance of technical proficiency and artistic integrity, preserving the film’s unique visual narrative in high definition.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix of "American Honey" delivers an impactful auditory experience, particularly during the numerous source music cues, which add substantial force to the soundtrack. This dynamic range is balanced well, even though some tracks might seem overly deliberate in relation to the unfolding action. Immersion is notably effective during outdoor scenes that feature a rich tapestry of ambient environmental effects. These details are most evident when Star and Jake engage in their magazine sales ventures, creating a vivid auditory landscape.

Dialogue presentation is nuanced, with a Hawksian approach characterized by simultaneous conversational exchanges that sometimes pose challenges in distinguishing individual voices. However, this does not detract significantly from the overall auditory clarity. Particularly during quieter interactions between Star and Jake, the dialogue is rendered with precision and clean clarity, ensuring comprehensibility. Additionally, the mix utilizes its multiple channels to effectively balance the ambient sounds and soundtrack, enhancing the naturalistic feel of the film. The LFE channel offers robust performance during scenes with a heavy soundtrack presence, further enriching the immersive experience.

In summary, the audio track of "American Honey" is both technically competent and engaging. With English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, subtitles in English SDH, and Spanish provisions, it ensures accessibility and an enriched viewing experience. The dynamic soundscape, intricate surround sound presentation, and clean dialogue reproduction collectively contribute to a compelling sonic adventure that complements the film's narrative and visual elements.

The Blu-ray extras for "American Honey" offer minimal but somewhat engaging content. The notable feature is a concise 6-minute interview segment with actresses Sasha Lane and Riley Keough, presented in 1080p. This interview intersperses clips from the film, but overall, the content feels relatively insubstantial and lacks depth. It's unfortunate that other enriching extras are absent, limiting the behind-the-scenes insights that viewers might expect from a comprehensive Blu-ray release.

Extras included in this disc:

• Sasha Lane and Riley Keough on American Honey: Brief interviews with the actresses.

"American Honey" presents a raw and immersive narrative, exploring the journey of Star (Sasha Lane) as she escapes her stagnant life to join a rambunctious magazine sales crew led by the pragmatic Krystal (Riley Keough). The film's opening instantly grips viewers with a disturbing yet narratively compelling scene of Star dumpster diving for food. This sets the tone for a film rich in character study yet meandering in its pacing. Sasha Lane shines in her debut role, showcasing the struggles and emotional complexities of her character with an authenticity that anchors the film, while Shia LaBeouf delivers an adept performance as Jake, bringing layers to his charming yet morally ambiguous persona.

Andrea Arnold’s approach as writer-director crafts a unique viewing experience. Her method of partial scripting and emphasis on improvisation lends a naturalistic feel to the character interactions, enhancing the film's sense of realism. This spontaneous style is complemented by Robbie Ryan's cinematography, capturing the vast American landscapes and evoking a sense of fleeting freedom among the youthful crew. Despite the film’s strength in atmosphere and mood, its sprawling 162-minute runtime tends to dilute the narrative impact, with certain plot threads left unresolved and an overall drift-like quality that may test viewers' patience.

"American Honey" resists easy categorization. It's not merely an indie love story, road film, or a simplistic crime drama. Instead, it's an exploratory epic that delves into themes of youth, freedom, and survival in a fragmented society. While the narrative’s loose structure and excessive length could be seen as drawbacks, it simultaneously allows for an organic unfolding of characters’ lives and the unpolished portrayal of their makeshift community. The film succeeds on many fronts, particularly in its character dynamics and socio-cultural observations, even if its pacing and unresolved elements might leave some viewers yearning for a more definitive conclusion.

Andrea Arnold’s "American Honey" presents a deep dive into the drifting, youthful subculture of America with a standout performance by Sasha Lane. Despite the film's extended duration, which some viewers might find excessive, the languid pace effectively underscores the aimlessness and desperation of its protagonists. This thematic resonance is bolstered by a raw, lived-in quality that permeates the entire film, making it a unique viewing experience. The intricate character study and emotional intensity are what give this film its compelling nature, making it more than just an indie darling.

On a technical note, the Blu-ray release of "American Honey" impresses with robust video and audio quality. The visual fidelity preserves the film’s naturalistic cinematography, capturing the authenticity of the on-the-road journey with clarity and detail. The audio track is particularly noteworthy, providing an immersive experience that complements the film's gritty realism. However, the Blu-ray package is somewhat lacking in supplementary materials, offering little in terms of extras to enrich the viewer's understanding or appreciation of the film.

In conclusion, while "American Honey" might challenge viewers with its protracted running time, its authentic portrayal of youthful exploration and standout performance by Sasha Lane make it a rewarding watch. The Blu-ray release does justice to Arnold's vision with excellent technical merits, though it misses an opportunity by not including more bonus features. Nevertheless, for those interested in thought-provoking indie cinema, "American Honey" is heartily recommended.