A perfect pairing of sound & vision. American Honey and Rihanna.

 

American Honey was my favourite film of 2016. It's a hard sell though. A 163 minute long movie about teenagers selling magazine subscriptions in middle America. A description that would put anyone off watching TBH but director Andrea Arnold pulled off a miracle and created a masterpiece. A dark, vivid shot in the arm. A depressing but life affirming story of America's lost and alienated youth.

Star (Sasha Lane) is a young girl going nowhere fast in a small Oklahoma town. She spends her time looking after her two younger siblings and her father is a sleazy piece of shit. She spies a way out when she meets a group of young sales people and is offered a chance at seeing America and making some money on the way. The below scene is the moment she gets hooked by a glimpse at a freedom she's never experienced.



Who'd have thought Shia LaBoeuf dancing to Rihanna in a Walmart would create such a joyous moment. The lyrics are hilariously on the nose. "We found love in a hopeless place." Star finding friendship and a new life in Walmart. The music a million miles away from the depressing country dirge popular in the bars around the town. Shia's hilarious moves are very different to the regimented line dancing loved by the locals and his joie de vivre is exactly opposite that of the other man in her life. She wants to get out, he knows it and reels her in. Rihanna's "Yellow diamonds in the light" promising the money and adventure she'll never know if she stays.

A brilliant moment in a brilliant film.

Previous pairings

Snake In The Eagle's Shadow
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
The Untouchables
Airplane!
Dazed And Confused  
Kickboxer                                  
Grosse Point Blank
Mean Streets
Watership Down
Casablanca
Zodiac
Jackie Brown
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Deliverance
The Omen
Copland
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The Mission
Before Sunset
Carlito's Way
A Knight's Tale
Platoon
Before Sunrise
Rushmore
An American Werewolf In London
Dazed And Confused
Boogie Nights
Raging Bull
Almost Famous
Once Upon A Time In The West
Goodfellas

Last Of The Mohicans